Indy Mogul - DIY filmmaking

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Prop Scalpel

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:49:16 EDT

Even though i've covered fake stabs and cutting before, a lot of you have been requesting how to make more "medical"-based tools, and I think a good place to expand on my Syringe build from a few weeks ago would be to make one of the most basic medical tools, the Scalpel.

I think the best base for this prop is a X-Acto knife, that should by default be a part of your prop building kit already. The issue with using this as a prop is it's obviously a REAL BLADE, it can cut you just as bad as a real scalpel. So first of all, we're going to have to fix that.

I got this piece of sturdy cardstock (you could use some poster paper, you just need something that is thin but with some stiffness to it.) Then sketched out the rough shape of the scalpel head.

Then using the knife, I cut it out as smoothly as possible. (You don't want a lot of paper fringe coming off of it, since you want it to look like a single piece of hard metal.)

Paint both of them with a shiny silver paint.

Now just attach the fake head, and utilizing the bulb method that I used in my stabbing and cutting tutorial, and you can safely run it against your actors skin without causing actual harm, or having to file down and ruin a good cutting head.

Awesome Music Video Shot With Webcams

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:24:25 EDT

A friend of mine sent me this amazing music video shot entirely with webcams, and I just had to post it up. This once again illustrates the entire point of Indy Mogul, that it doesn't matter if you don't have an amazing camera, or professional actors, with a good idea, and hard work, you can make something truly amazing.

Disposable Film Festival '10 - Submit now!

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:37:09 EDT

Disposable Film Fest '09 Promo from Disposable Film Festival on Vimeo.

Our friends over at the Disposable Film Festival, are currently accepting submissions for 2010! If you don't remember, the DFF is a festival dedicated to telling good stories with sub-cinematic equipment.

It doesn't matter if it's shot on a cellphone, the video feature of a point-and-click, or an old crummy camcorder, the Disposable Film Festival wants your ultra-low-budget shorts. So check it out today over at the Disposable Film Festival website, and go over to their Vimeo Channel to see some of the winners from the last few years.

BTT's newest intern!

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:30:37 EDT

Hollywood is a tough business to break into, so you gotta start making inroads ASAP!

Take Beyond The Trailer's newest intern, Mady Sabia. She's the daughter of BTT's director/DP John Sabia and his lovely wife Lisa, who you can see on BTT's Ice Age 3 episode.

Here's Mady on the set - already weighing in on creative decisions! Look at her scrutinize the shot!

Internships are fun! Be sure to keep an eye out for exciting opportunities, and if you're going to be in the NYC area and want to intern at Indy Mogul, give us a shout out at internships@nextnewnetworks.com!

Wesley's Weekly PRESENTS... Advanced Bruises

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:26:39 EDT

Hey Guys, Wes here. I am busy with a project this weekend, so once again fellow Moderator and Make-up Expert Arissa Beck has offered up her services, and is here to show you a new fantastic make-up tutorial to help make all of your films a little better. Take it away Arissa!

~~________________________________________________________~~

ADVANCED BRUISE MAKE-UP

BY: Arissa Beck

Hey there Indy Moulers! It’s me Arissa Beck back wit some make-up effects for you. This week I’ll be showing you how to create a realistic bruised eye effect.

This type of effect can be adapted to most parts of the body. With a little creativity and a basic understanding of human anatomy, you can make anyone looked batter and bruised without have to put up your dukes.

Supplies:
• Nose & Scar wax
• Liquid Latex
• Crème or Powder shadows
• Brushes
• Small blending spatula

You want to start off with a clean fresh face. Have your model wash their face with a special cleanser or some soap and water. You want to remove some of the natural oils the face produces. This will help the wax and latex adhere better.

You want to take a small amount of the nose and scar wax and place it above your models eye. Place it on the brow ridge. This will help simulate a swollen ridge from trauma.

Start by smoothing the blob of wax with the small spatula. If you can’t find a small enough tool to work with, use the end of a make-up or paintbrush.

After you have the eye brow ridge smoothed, seal the wax with a very thin layer of latex. This will help everything remain in place as well help your make-up stick when applying it.

You can then start on the cheek area. Using the same technique as above, take a small amount of wax and add it to the highest part of the cheek.

Smooth and seal like above. After the latex is dried, powder the latex to keep it and other things from sticking to it. You now are ready to apply your make-up.

You want to start off with applying your lightest colors first. In this case yellow. Apply it to the peaks of the wax. Look at photos of how real bruises appear for inspiration and help.

Next is the process of blending by adding other colors. I moved on with a brown color.

Next are some reds. Again use your brush to blend and reference photos to help you see the bruise.

Next add some purple. And you want to add a bit of red on the top lid and lower lid to create irritation.

More blending. At this point you want to use a flesh tone to add some highlights in some spots as well. You can also use a stipple sponge with some red crème make-up on it to simulate broken blood vessels.

When you are satisfied with how the bruise looks you are finished. Now it’s time to make freak out everyone with your realistic bruised eye.

I hope you guys enjoyed this make-up tutorial. Please sow your support by leaving some comments down below.

Open Call for Indy Moguler Videos!

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:47:49 EDT

The call has sounded for even more videos from you! We are looking for viewer testimonials about how you found Indy Mogul, how often you watch, who you've told about it, and why you like the network. We want to know! We need to know! Be creative, be funny, and become part of Indy Mogul. (Beware copyrighted music because then we can't use it)

To Submit Your Video...Click HERE!

Thanks to those who've already submitted! Watch the video below to see what the Indy Mogul fans have been submitting and to get a better idea of what we're looking for.

flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="300" width="400">

Send in your Indy Mogul testimonials! from Indy Mogul on Vimeo.

Let's let the world know about the greatness that is IndyMogul! Thanks everybody, you really do rock. Keep making your amazing videos.

Submit your Viewer Video HERE

Get ready to go through the Looking-Glass with Tim Burton!

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:28:40 EDT

Ah yes, another remake! But this one hardly looks familiar! These images are from Tim Burton's upcoming ALICE IN WONDERLAND, which Disney will release next spring in Digital 3D and IMAX 3D. What you're looking at here is Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bohnam Carter as the Red Queen, and Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. Based on USA Today's recent article, it looks like this will be like RETURN TO OZ.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2009-06-21-alice-in-wonderland_N.htm

So, does Burton still have the magic touch or has he lost his head? Is this more Burton than Carroll, or are they kindred spirits?

For me, while interesting, I don't know if I want to see that Mad Hatter coming at me in 3D!! :P

P.S. Thanks for viewer Will Budd for the heads up on this story!

Summer Giveaway: free movie tickets from Beyond The Trailer!

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:17:35 EDT

There are so many good movies coming out this summer, Beyond The Trailer wants to treat you and a friend to one for FREE!

Every week, the winner of the One Sentence Review Challenge will win a pair of AMC Gold Movie Tickets, which are good for any movie at any time.

Here's how to enter:

For each week's chosen movie, write a one sentence review either in the comments section of the corresponding BTT episode or twitter it to @BeyondTheTrailr! The winner, along with four runner-ups, will be announced every Sunday on Movie Math!

Below is a list of the winners so far! This weekend, June 24th: Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen!

Beyond The Trailer's One Sentence Review Challenge - WINNERS LIST

Star Trek - winner, YouTube's MB20786 with "Star Trek is a sexy, and visually rich redoing of geeky source material, which surprisingly works on all levels."

Angels & Demons - winner, YouTube's Girux2 with "“It was like a two hour scenic tour of vatican city only less exciting – I give it a 5, generously, for very gingerly grazing the surface of an intriguing topic.”

Terminator Salvation - winner, YouTube's DeaconSnacks with "Terminator Salvation may take place in the future depicted after Judgment Day that we all wanted to visit, but lacks any heart to really justify its existence and, like John Connor says, "'f we stay the course...we are all dead!' - the franchise should take note"

Pixar's Up - winner, YouTube's skatfree with "In a movie season where most of the highest grossing films were either spin-offs or sequels, Up stands out as a movie that challenges Hollywood with a new and interesting plot and storyline, leaving you with a satisfied smile on your face.”

Land of the Lost - winner, YouTube's Checker222 with "Land of the Lost is the kind of movie that proves Hollywood has run out of ideas."

The Taking of Pelham 123 - winner, YouTube's BramB600 with "Travolta and Washington give convincing enough performances, however even they can't save this from becoming that typical summer actioner that the exceptional 1974 original was never meant to be.”

Year One - winner, YouTube's ComedicEmpire with "Take the plot from the movie 10,000 BC and add a bunch of dirty jokes and you get Year One.”

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Wooden Club Prop

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:31:49 EDT

In trying to keep with this week's Paleolithic theme, I thought I would undertake a really simply prop that you could use to supplement any caveman costume you might want to make. The basic club is something that you see time and time again in a lot of Prehistoric films, and could easily be used in a lot of different situations when you need some kind of stick or club to hit someone else with that won't actually knock them unconcious.

Start with a soft green floral foam block.

And carve out a hole in the end that is about the size...

For whatever you want to use as the handle. I cut a cardboard shipping tube in half and used it, since it's rigid enough to act as a handle, but not so rigid as to hurt if someone were hit with it.

Then, I carved the shape of the foam block a little to try to make it look a little more "organic".

Then using a mixture of flour, water, and white glue, I soaked some newspaper in it, and paper mache'd the outside of the "club" to smooth it over and give it a bit more "hard" look.

I started by layering different shades of brown paint with a rough bristled brush, so there is a brown texture on it.

I went back over and did some detailing in dark brown and black, and there you have it, a really simple wooden looking club that you can use in your films.

The Danger Element - Trailer

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:50:47 EDT

Our friends from WestHavenBrook finally released the trailer for their upcoming film, "THE DANGER ELEMENT", which I have been posting Production Blogs up for, for a while now. So check it out, then stop by BattleJitni.com to stay updated on the film!

Wesley's Weekly SPECIAL: Blood Test II: Return of the Blood Test

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:26:16 EDT

Last month, I did a special on the blog called The Blood Test, well I enjoyed doing it so much, and got such a good response from it last month, that I thought I would undertake it once again, and show some of the less common (and not so uncommon) bases for fake blood i've read about. Submitted for the approval of Mogulville.. Wesley's Weekly BLOOD TEST 2: RETURN OF THE BLOOD TEST!

SAMPLE #1 - Non-Dairy Creamer

I had read that Non-Dairy Creamer was a nice base for an opaque blood that showed up well on dark backgrounds, (You'll see that opaque blends will be a reoccuring theme this time). It is quite bright, and a little bit to saturated looking, but i'm sure that with a little bit of green you could darken it up a bit and make it look a bit darker.

It sticks well to skin, and shows up very well, but like I said previously, has a very bright look.

Shows up pretty well on fabric. Absorbs nicely without losing to much color.

Also, think it splatters nicely, nice even ground as far as thickness goes I think.

SAMPLE #2 - Lotion

It is kind of pastel and very bright, very similar to the Non-Dairy Creamer in color. Although, same as the creamer I had to add a LOT of food coloring to start to get it to a nice red color.

I think it smears really nicely on the skin...

I think it shows up on fabric really nicely as well, even though it's a bit thick.

I don't like the splatter that much, it looks kind of gummy and sticks together to well.

SAMPLE #3 - Aloe Vera Juice

I had to add less food coloring to this to get it red, but it doesn't look a lot like blood to me. It has an ok viscosity in the jug I got (I got A LOT of it for only 4 dollars), but once it gets in the cup, it's a lot closer to water.

It's to watery and doesn't show up on the skin really well, but I guess it wouldn't be terrible as a "mouthful of blood", or as blood in the blood pump.

It doesn't show up on fabric real well, and it's a little pink.

It splatters well, but it's hardly discernable on the white background of my table.

SAMPLE #4 - Ketchup

Probably one of the first fake blood that most of us remember using for anything (I can remember more than one Halloween simply smearing Ketchup on my face with plastic Vampire teeth and trying to claim that was a costume), it's actually not bad for being so easy to get ahold of. It is pretty thick, and it's viscosity is way more than blood, but watered down a little, and with a little red added, it actually can be pretty decent.

It looks nice and bright, and smears pretty well on the skin.

It works well on fabric, but doesn't soak in very well. But I think it still looks pretty decent.

It does not splatter very well though as it is so thick, but I think with it being watered down a little more I think it could be acceptable. It might make a decent congealed blood though if you darken it a little with a little green food coloring.

SAMPLE #5 - White Glue

The glue did not take to the glue as well as I desired, becoming quite pastel. A dried pigment might make it a bit more vivid, that seems to work in Nihonga painting (where they make paint from glue and pigment). But it's viscosity is also an issue, since it's so thick, so definitely water it down even if you can get it redder.

It's opacity is nice, but once again it's worthless if it's soft pastel instead of a vivid red. Smears nicely, but worthless as a blood application. Maybe decent as a application of a 2nd Degree Burn though.

It looks decent on fabric, but it's still too pink.

It splatters ok, but it beads too much, and it's just way too thick.

SAMPLE #6 - Acrylic Paint

This is one i've read about a few times. I've primarily read about this one in relation to old 70's Kung-Fu films, where this (and other opaque blood mixtures) would be utilized because regular corn syrup blood is very hard to see on the Black Fabric of many of the costumes. So they needed something that would show up even against a very dark background, thus Red Acrylic Paint was used in some of the films.

It shows up well on the skin and is very vivid, but can easily stain, so BE CAREFUL.

It is VERY bright on fabric, but doesn't soak in well. It also dries very quickly, so be careful about that.

It beads up to a similar degree as the white glue mixture, so pretty thick, this is definitely one to water down.

SAMPLE #7 - Milk

The milk has an ok viscosity, better than straight water definitely, but because it's white by default, it doesn't take to the color red very easily, and suffers from a similar issue that I had with the white glue, turning pastel rather than bright red.

It sticks ok to skin, but it's too pastel to really be viable for me.

It actually soaks into the fabric pretty well, but once again it's very pastel so that is a big issue as well.

It splatters ok, but once again i've got to go back to the pastel. This would probably work find as a additive to corn syrup blood to help it be more opaque (which is what i've heard it used as more commonly than simply by itself), but on it's own, it just doesn't work very well for realistic blood.

SAMPLE #8 - Hair Gel

The hair gel is pretty good, it takes the food coloring really well, especially for how thick it is. But it still has a consistency close to gelatin.

It smears pretty well on the skin, and stays on really well.

It sticks to fabric really well, but doesn't soak in very much.

It doesn't splatter very well as it's very thick, but might respond better if it's watered down a bit.

SAMPLE #9 - Honey

Honey works pretty well, it's a nice thickness, and is pretty close to corn syrup, so if you can't find corn syrup in your area (as a few of our overseas Mogulers have reported), honey can definitely act as a stand-in.

It sticks pretty well and responds very closely to how corn syrup responds.

It sticks pretty well, and looks pretty close to how corn syrup looks on fabric.

It splatters decently, but it's a little thicker than i'd like, i'd suggest watering it down just a tad, but other than that it's almost perfect.

STAINING RESULTS:

After washing the cloth (once again no bleach, single wash cycle, no drying), the following stay stained after retrieval...

1. Non-Dairy Creamer - Minor Stain

2. Lotion - No Stain

3. Aloe Vera Juice - No Stain

4. Ketchup - Minor Stain

5. White glue - Medium Stain

6. Acrylic Paint - Major Stain

7. Milk - No Stain

8. Hair Gel - Minor Stain

9. Honey - No Stain

There you go guys! Hope this test helps you pick out the right blood for your films! Good luck!

Erik Beck and Indy Mogul on TV Tonight!

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:30:22 EDT

Erik Beck and Indy Mogul are on the Science Channel Tonight at 10pm. Show Erik, BFX, and Indy Mogul your support by watching tonight and letting us know what you thought in the comments below!

Adam Savage's Colossal Failures

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:51:05 EDT

A few months ago, I posted this talk that Adam Savage gave on his obsessions, and you all seemed to really enjoyed it, so I thought you all would really enjoy this other discussion that Adam Savage gave about failures and their importance to the development of a person for Make Magazine's Maker Faire.

Indy Mogul LIVE - June Edition! (Re-Broadcast)

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:43:52 EDT

Enjoy the recorded version of Indy Mogul Live - June Edition from the June 4th, 2009 broadcast. The Indy Mogul crew answers viewer questions about filmmaking, movies, and more. The debate segment was a face-off between M&M's and Reece's Pieces!

Leave your comments below!

Erik Beck and Bobby Miller Acceptance Speeches at 2009 Webby Awards

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:10:20 EDT

Indy Mogul's Erik Beck and Bobby Miller were honored at last night's 2009 Webby Awards. Erik accepted two webby Awards for Backyard FX 's win in the Best Special Effects category. Bobby accepted the award for Best Variety Show for his show "Best Short Films in the World." As you'll notice, the Webby Awards have a unique restriction for all of its acceptance speeches: they can only be 5 words long.

Erik Beck's 5 Word acceptance speech:

Bobby's 5 Word acceptance speech:

As Erik's speech makes clear, Indy Mogul could not have won any of these awards without the votes from you, the Indy Mogul viewers. Thank you again for voting for Indy Mogul and Bobby Miller in the Webby Awards. We have the greatest fans in the world.

Movie Math: The Hangover, Land of the Lost, etc

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:49:04 EDT

Will Ferrell steps in a giant dinosaur-sized turd while trying to make his first family comedy. Just how big is the stink? Let’s find out with this blog version of Movie Math!

#1

Ah, a comeback is sweet but revenge is even sweeter! Todd Phillips scored his first #1 hit as The Hangover debuted with $45 million. Judd Apatow’s got to be a little nervous now about his Funny People which hits theaters next month, perhaps even second guessing his decision to turn himself into James L. Brooks rather than play it safe with another boy-on-boy raunch-fest. THIS raunch-fest reminded many of 2005’s Wedding Crashers, but The Hangover turns out to be more profitable than the party as Wedding Crashers debuted with “just” $34 million. That’s quite a ride for Bradley Cooper who played a supporting role in Wedding Crashers but, only four years later, has graduated to leading man. Plus look for a slew of Zach Galifianakis movies to be coming your way as he challenges Seth Rogen for the title of cuddliest raunchy comedian. And since Wedding Crashers went on to make $209 million overall at the box office, look for The Hangover to post similar numbers. I bet Captain Kirk and company are gonna be pretty surprised to look over their shoulder and see this trio on their heels…

#2

And Pixar’s Up continues to soar as it comes in at #2, falling just 35%. With $137 million in just two weeks, Pixar can rest easy that their box office batting average will be upheld. In fact, it looks like it’ll be clear sailing all the way to Oscar season…

Conspicuously occupying the #3 spot is Will Ferrell, with $19 million all he has to show for his opening weekend. In fact Ferrell seems to be developing a disturbing pattern: hit then flop. While Step Brothers ($30 million opening), Blades of Glory ($33 million opening) and Talladega Nights ($47 million opening) were comedy hits, Semi-Pro ($15 million opening) and Stranger Than Fiction ($13 million opening) were undoubtedly flops. Savvy directors working with Ferrell should take note of this pattern when scheduling their shooting dates. But Ferrell doesn’t have to be too worried because this pattern also proves without a doubt that his fans always come back. In fact his next film is an action comedy with Mark Wahlberg and there’s no way I’m going to miss that team-up, no matter how much Land of the Lost sucked. But not everyone thought Land of The Lost sucked. I asked you to rate the movie on a 1 to 10, and you were very divided resulting in a final score of 7. That’s the same score audiences gave the movie on Friday’s episode of Beyond The Trailer.

Now for the One Sentence Review Challenge results:

5th Place - "thejewmatt" - It's like Jurassic Park meets Talladega Nights without a racecar, but with Matt Lauer that includes an awesome rendition of the old Land of The Lost theme.

4th Place - "TomChatalbash" - Land of the Lost, which is based on the very cheesy television series, provides a few chuckles from Ferrell and McBride here and there, but ultimately fails to be entertaining family adventure due to the poorly conceived script, vulgar humor, over the top acting, and eye rolling special effects.

3rd Place - "SonOfADeathBed" - The Will Ferrell train makes another summer stop and I want to get off!

2nd Place - "pacerocks1" - This dramatically, thematically and artistically bankrupt comic fantasy cost something in the neighborhood of $100 million to make and isn't worth the celluloid it's printed on.

1st Place and winner of the two free AMC movie tickets - "Checker222" - Land of the Lost is the kind of movie that proves Hollywood has run out of ideas.

Elsewhere in the BoxOffice

My Life In Ruins might as well be Nia Vardalos’s career in ruins as it debuted at #9 with just $3 million. Coupled with the poor performance of Connie and Carla, which also opened with $3 million and went on to make just $11 million worldwide, it becomes pretty clear that audiences simply aren’t interested in this Greek Jane Doe. In the specialty market, Away We Go opened in four theaters and sported an impressive per screen average of $32,000 – that means plenty of sold out shows over the weekend. But as Away We Go expands over the next few weeks, we’ll find out if audiences are interested in seeing two television actors even if they are walking to the beat of Sam Mendes’ art house drum.

Movie Reviews

Being that I am away on vacation – so to speak – I saw two movies this weekend!

The Hangover

Was this the FUNNIEST movie I’ve ever seen? No. In fact, I warn everyone not to let the hype overwhelm them because, quite frankly, it would be hard for any movie to live up to the levels of hype this movie is getting. That said, I certainly enjoyed it and it made me miss Las Vegas. Actually, this movie is a great ad for Vegas and I wouldn’t be surprised if Sin City saw an increase in visitors thanks to this movie – which they desperately need by the way as the bad economy is killing the convention business. But good news! Last I checked Vegas hotel rates are rock bottom so you can have your own hangover for a lot less than the $4,000+ they shelled out in the movie. All the actors here did a nice job and nobody stole the show, although Zach Galifianakis came close. Justin Bartha also did a nice job with a thankless role. So overall I think you should definitely see The Hangover, but Star Trek is still my favorite movie of the summer.

Away We Go

A friend of mine really wanted to check it out so, considering Land of the Lost only got a 7 on Beyond The Trailer, I happily agreed. This is a very zen movie – a solid character study of a couple trying to find their way, seeing all the missteps and/or misfortune that have befallen other couples. I was impressed that John Krasinski was able to make me NOT see Jim from The Office, but maybe that was the result of his beard and glasses instead of his acting. However, if he plays his cards right I could see him being the next Tom Hanks. Maya Rudolph also did a nice job, but her role was very subtle and made little use of her comedic talents. Maggie Gyllenhaal also had a fun cameo as a train wreck of a hippie mom, and it was great to see the film deal with her frankly rather than with the reverence usually reserved for the so-called “enlightened”. Therefore I say check out Away We Go, but if you waited for it to come out on DVD it wouldn’t be a crime.

And finally, thanks for reading Movie Math this week! I'll be back with a brand new episode next Sunday, and I'll see you first on Friday as Beyond The Trailer covers The Taking Of Pelham 123, Imagine That, and Moon! I'm Grace Randolph and we just did some Movie Math! :)

ERIK BECK AND INDY MOGUL ON TV!

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:07:06 EDT

Erik Beck of Indy Mogul is a special guest on the Science Channel's new show "Science of the Movies." The episode featuring Erik is titled "Horror Movies - Effects that Scare" and it will be airing this Thursday, June 11th at 10pm on the Science Channel. Erik demonstrates some of the best DIY specials effects from Backyard FX including a new, improved knife-throw effect and more!

Be sure to show your support and check out the episode when it airs.

Here's the Promo for the Series:

About the Show:

Science Channel invites you on a geektastic journey to the cinematic intersection of art and science in the all-new "Science of the Movies",
Thursdays at 10PM (ET/PT).

Appealing to the movie junkie in us all, the new series explores the remarkable - yet rarely celebrated - scientific world that exists behind the screen, spotlighting the visionary artists, entrepreneurial spirit, innovative technology and remarkable techniques responsible for creating unforgettable, edge-of-your-seat moments in blockbuster films. "Science of the Movies" breaks down famous movie scenes to show viewers the inside science on how each sequence was strung together. In each episode host and self-proclaimed movie geek Nar Williams gets the inside scoop on the tricks of the Hollywood trade.Williams gets some much appreciated hands-on experience, acting as the guinea pig to show the technological creative behind the scenes. Highlighting the equipment used in creating the latest visual effects and computer graphics, coupled with interviews with the award-winning artists, stunt men and technicians responsible for using or sometimes even inventing the equipment, "Science of the Movies" celebrates the world of movie magic like never before.From motion capture film techniques and the science of perspective in chase scenes to state-of-the-art cameras and creating 3-D worlds, Science of the Movies features rare behind-the-scenes footage to help bring viewers to the cutting-edge of film-making technology.

Show Erik your support! Watch the show June 11th at 10pm and leave a comment below.

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Liquid Latex Alternative

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:38:38 EDT

Liquid latex is one of the staples of low budget make-up effects, being used in nearly every one of the masks or costumes we've made here on the site, it's essential for most indie make-up kits. BUT A lot of you out there have mentioned liquid latex either being very difficult to find, or irritating your skin. Not only that, but it's important to be able to quickly improvise something if you run out of latex, or don't have easy access to it on-location. Fear not though, there IS a solution... All the way back in EPISODE 4, Erik mentioned using white glue as an alternative to Liquid Latex, and it peaked a bit of interest, but no real details went into how effective it is, or how it looks. So I decided to finally tackle this for all of you Mogulers out there want wanted a cheap and easy alternative to Liquid Latex.

I am going to utilize my hand as the base for the application, but it can be used almost anywhere. Clean it well to begin with, unlike liquid latex applications though you don't have to dust it, since it's water soluable and can be washed off. (One of it's limitations, since skin perspiration and air humidity will affect the structure of the application over time far more than it will liquid latex.)

Next, get a piece of tissue paper and dampen it gently, so it sticks against your skin.

Get some PVA (White Glue), a little bit of water, and a few drops of paint (brown and white for me). Then blended it together.

Then soak the paper with the mixture. I pour a little in the middle, then smoothed it over all the paper with my finger.

It takes about 15 minutes to dry, with hitting it occasionally with a hair dryer.

I started by laying down a layer of flesh colored make-up to start trying to blend it in, and built up with a few light pinks.

I poked a hole in the middle, and started peeling it up. White glue is less flexible than liquid latex, both metaphorically, and physically. It's a bit more brittle, so you've got to be careful with it, but it doesn't stick to itself as readily, so that is a bit easier.

I darkened the inside of it with some black creme paint, then dabbed fake blood on top of it. As you can see it doesn't look terrible, especially from a distance, BUT my personal experiences...

PROS:

-Cheap

-Easy to get

-Doesn't stick to itself as easily

-Easy to wash off

CONS:

-It's a bit shiny in it's natural state, so I would suggest powdering it to get a more matte layer going on after you're done

-Stiffer, so it can look more artificial

-Longer drying times

-Sensitive to water (that means wet make-ups, fake blood, perspiration, and humidity)

-Less permanent

So in conclusion, for a quick cheap application, I think it does it's job admirable for the cost, and should definitely be a viable option for those on a budget. For more complex applications stick with latex (or for the bigger guys silicone and the like), but for cuts, holes, and the like, I see no reason why this shouldn't be something that could easily save you some time and effort.

Behind-The-Scenes at IMAX

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:10:14 EDT

Recently the guys over at Gizmodo got a behind-the-scenes look at IMAX, and I thought it was really amazing to see all the work that goes on over there to produce an IMAX film. Even though IMAX most definitely is not something that is easily accessible to indie filmmakers like most of us, I still think it's a deeply fascinating look at some of the heights of Cinema technology, and everything that can go into producing such amazing images. So definitely head over to Gizmodo and check out the really interesting observations they had to offer up while behind-the-scenes at IMAX.

Changes in Mogulville!

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:56:30 EDT

Mogulville has always been a wonderful place for fans and fellow filmmakers to learn more about the show, make requests, collaborate, and learn from one another, and in a continued effort to constantly keep improving not only Indy Mogul, but how we can communicate with the Moguler community, we've recently made some updates in Mogulville. Firstly, we've rolled out a new set of rules that we think will make our community a more enriching place to visit and talkin the future. Next, we'd like to announce a brand new group of Mods to help keep the forum's organized, and to answer all of the questions you might have. So swing by, check out the new rule, congratulate the new Mods, and enjoy Mogulville.

Indy Mogul LIVE! This Thursday at 7pm EDT

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:04:52 EDT

Once a month, Indy Mogul broadcasts live for an hour. June's live show will be taking place right here at IndyMogul.com this Thursday, June 4th at 7pm EDT. All the Indy Mogul hosts will be on the show including Erik Beck, Bobby Miller and Grace Randolph. The crew will be taking your calls and answering your filmmaking questions. There'll also be the occasional funny debate.

What:     Indy Mogul LIVE Show
When:    June 4th 7pm - 8pm EDT
Where:   IndyMogul.com homepage

Call in: 347-416-6485
Skype Name: indymogul

Post your questions in the Official Thread in Indy Mogul Forum: Official Q and Erik / Indy Mogul Live Thread

We'll also be taking questions by phone, through the livestream chat room, and, now, through twitter.

Best Short Films Dance Remix - Extended Version!

Sat, 30 May 2009 22:39:17 EDT

This is one of the most amazing audience-generated things I've ever had the honor of viewing.

Jonathan B Cormier is responsible for the dance remix of the Best Short Films in the World show theme (as seen in the finale part 1)...little did I know he made a full length remix (above). This is so cool, Jonathan. Thank you!

Go support his music here and his movies here.

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Prop Syringe

Thu, 28 May 2009 22:08:10 EDT

Well they have been requested many times, and I thought that this would be a really easy, really quick effect that a lot of us could benefit from. Syringes are a very common prop in stuff like Medical shows, and the like, and can have a lot of uses in a variety of plots and situations. So since you Moguler's out there wanted to know how to make this really simple prop, I thought it was definitely time to make a tutorial and show everyone out there one way to make a safe and easy syringe prop for cheap.

I start with this, it is an "Oral Syringe" generally used for giving medicine to babies, or animals. I got this at my local supermarket, and only cost me a couple of bucks. You can see it already looks pretty close to a medical syringe without much alteration.

The next part is obviously the needle. I like using mechanical pencil lead for this part, because it's easy to get, it's brittle enough that it generally breaks before it actually pierces skin, so it's safe to use in a prop needle.

Next, I filled the tip of the syringe with some polymer clay...

And there you go. Now, the reason why I filled it with Polymer clay, is that is doesn't dissolve in the water (like air-dry clay), and it still has enough give that when you push the needle against the skin, it still slides back into the syringe body.

If you also want an IV line with this, I have found that just some clear Vinyl tubing taped down works well enough for most scenes.

The Auteurs - Rare films for free!

Thu, 28 May 2009 21:30:53 EDT

Well it is officially Summer for most of us, time to relax and (for many of us) enjoy taking some time off. Well all of this extra time is also a great time to watch some movies, and I found this really interesting new website that is built jsut for that. In Partnership with Criterion, Celluloid Dreams, and Costa Films, they have been restoring and releasing onto the internet tons of really rare classics that can't be found almost anywhere else. The best part? Many of time are totally free.

So definitely something I think a lot of you would love to check out.

Rooftop Films Summer Series

Wed, 27 May 2009 15:20:48 EDT

If you live in the NYC area, Rooftop Films is a great way to spend your summer evenings watching independent films. Rooftop Films is an independent film festival where the screenings take place outdoors on rooftops across NYC. The festival presents feature films as well as themed short films. This weekend the festival is having an animation-themed night on Friday, May 29th. Check it out:

Dark ‘Toons: Optical Illusions
The infirm will walk, the dead will dance, cities will rise up from the earth, and the trees themselves will rebel. Walls will crawl and heads will roll…and then rejoin their host bodies. Anything can happen in a cartoon, and this exhilarating collection of short animated films from all over the world displays all that can be done with the form.

Before the films, Sound Fix presents Javelin . And after the films, everyone in attendance is invited to the Rooftop Films after party at Fontana's where we will be serving complimentary Radeberger Pilsner until 1 AM and hanging out with the filmmakers and the band.

Venue: on the roof of the Open Road Rooftop
Address: 350 Grand Street @ Essex (Lower East Side, Manhattan)
8:00PM: Doors open
8:30PM: Sound Fix presents live music by Javelin
9:00PM: Films
11:30PM - 1:00AM: Open Bar at Fontana’s (105 Eldridge St), courtesy of
Radeberger beer
Tickets: $9-$25

You can purchase tickets in Here

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Cheap Bounce Board

Fri, 22 May 2009 17:00:00 EDT

So we've covered some lighting techniques, and how to assemble a cheap lighting kit in the past. But something that I haven't really talked about how to make (and that is actually really simple) is the basic bounce board. These are really easy to make, and can help really improve your lighting, especially outdoors. They are used to extenuate the lighting sources you already have, and to soften shadows, and as I mentioned they can be invaluable outdoors, helping to give you softer more even lighting when you're dealing with the sun as your primary lighting source. So for those of you looking for them, here is a way to make a bounce board for almost nothing.

I like Pizza boxes for this, because they are basically trash, and discarded by almost everyone, so it's easy to obtain a lot of them easily (and very cheaply) simply by asking around. Just by asking a few friends to give me their empty Pizza boxes, I was able to get a dozen boxes in a few weeks. They are also an ideal shape, since they are hinged in the center, not to mention having a very wide boxy shape. So cheap, easy to get, and a good shape, they make an ideal bounce board.

One drawback that always tends to annoy me is any crusty residue left over from the original contents of the box. The quickest way i've found to get rid of the residue, is to just throw it face down on some concrete, put a foot on top about it and rub it around. The weight of your body coupled with the abrasiveness of the concrete quickly removes any residue and gives you an ideal painting surface.

And all the residue is removed. Next...

I put on a layer of white acrylic paint as a primer, and to seal the rough texture.

I spray painted it a kind of golden bronze color. If you're going to spray paint it, make sure you get a highly reflective paint, it'll usually be designated by a chrome looking cap. You could also use a brush and acrylic paint, but spray painting is much faster.

On the otherside, I stretched a rectangle of aluminum foil approximately the length of the box, and put it in place with Metal repair tape. It is basically just aluminum foil with adhesive on one side, and blends in perfectly with the aluminum foil.

Finally, I ran a piece of twine on the middle segment here, and attached it to both sides with more metal tape. I do this, so I can easily hang the panel up on a wall or a stand, so I don't always need someone holding it.

LIGHTING TEST #1 - Single Fill Light

Here is what the lighting looks like with just a single work light pointed at the subject.

LIGHTING TEST #2 - Silver Reflector

Here is the silver side. It's very shiny so it is reflecting a lot of light. You can see how the shadow is softened a bit on the left side, and that there is now another smaller shadow on the right side.

LIGHTING TEST #3 - Gold Side

You can see how this one gives it a warmer more "orange" tint. With the shadow on the left side lightned less than the silver (since it's less shiny, thus throwing less light back), and the shadow on the right side almost invisible.

The different reflectors have different reflexive characteristics and this should definitely be taken into consideration when you're using them to light your subjects.

But there you go, a double sided reflector for almost nothing, hope it helps you with your next project!

WestHavenBrook's: The Danger Element Day 3 Pt. 2

Thu, 21 May 2009 18:50:06 EDT

Here is the second part of the third day of shooting, for WestHavenBrook's new project. Check it out to see some great behind-the-scenes footage, and see some of the hard work that they are doing!

A Zombie Contest!

Tue, 19 May 2009 15:04:44 EDT

I was recently introduced to an amazing site called LostZombies.com. It's a social network that is attempting to create the first 'community-generated zombie documentary.' Through community submissions, the site is compiling a fictional documentary that catalogues personal stories after the Zombie apocalypse happens. It's in the same vein as the books, World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide.

The site just announced a really simple, but awesome contest where you have to submit a letter that you've addressd to your friends and/or family about what to do if they've been biten by a zombie. You have to register on the site to become part of the community and enter the contest.

Check out the site and join the project. We think it's a really innovative way of combining filmmaking and social media, but leave your comments below about what you think of the concept!

Ira Glass on Storytelling Pt. 4

Tue, 19 May 2009 01:21:23 EDT

Ira Glass, host of the Radio and Television show, "This American Life", held a series of discussion on Current.com talking about the creative process, and storytelling, and I found these pretty interesting and thought that it is definitely something that Moguler community as a whole could benefit from watching. Check out the first part here, the second part here, and the third part here.

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Fake Oil/Grime

Sat, 16 May 2009 00:10:34 EDT

Chances are that you've seen at least one movie in your life that featured a shady Mechanic character, or a group of people working together on a machine of some sort. Something that I have always noticed in these scenes is that nearly everyone is always splattered with oil or grime. Little touches like these can really help add to the realism of a scene and really help the audience accept the reality of whatever you're working on. So since a request for fake oil or grime has been presented a few times, I thought I would try to whip up something that could easily work, and not stain everything you own with actual motor oil.

I think one of the best things you can use is black indian ink. Yes, I know what you're saying, "Won't that stain?", the answer is a definitely YES... BUT, only if you don't dilute it properly. You've got to think of it the same way that you think of food coloring. While a few drops of red in some food coloring may not be intense enough to stain your favorite shirt... using the dye straight from the bottle most likely will. The same concept applies here, CONCENTRATION is everything when you're dealing with dyes and paints.

I mixed just TWO DROPS in with the same Glycerine based personal lubricant that I used a few week's ago for The Blood Test, and it turned it a nice dark black, that is still translucent. I think this would be nice for a very light oil.

It's viscosity is nice, and it splatters nicely. While it's very close to oil, it is still a little bit too runny, which could be an issue if you're dealing with a thicker oil.

I think it looks good on fabric, but it gets a little to "gray" for my liking. Hand-washing it in the sink, the "oil" readily came out, so I can say that this isn't a hardcore staining agent, but I would still try to keep from using large amounts on a pourous surface.

Another suggestion I have read in regards to oil and grime, is to use chocolate syrup. This doesn't look to bad, except for me it's a bit too brown, and it's just a little too thick. So...

So, to kill two birds with one stone, I take the glycerine mixture (that remember, was a bit too thin) and mixed it into this, with a couple of extra drops of ink. I like the color of this a LOT more, and it's very dark, yet has that slight slight brown tinge that i've seen in oil and grime.

I like the viscosity of this a LOT more, it's not to thick, and not to runny.

And I really like how it looks on fabric. This also responds well to simple hand-washing, and I think would come out fully after a round in your own washing machine.

So just to go back over it the final recipe that I am happiest with is...

FAKE OIL/GRIME RECIPE:

1 Part Glycerine Based Personal Lubricant

1/2 Part Water

2 1/2 Part Chocolate Syrup

4 Drops of Indian Ink

It has a nice thickness, isn't to runny, sticks to fabric, yet doesn't stain it. I think this is an ideal mixture that could be modified for whatever purpose you need it for in your film.

Good Luck!

What is happening? You need to go to BobbysNewShow.com

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:09:13 EDT

You just saw the finale and now you're wondering: What's next? Check out: BobbysNewShow.com for the scoop!

Bobby's New Show!

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:08:36 EDT

Watch this video! This will answer some questions. I think?

Also! Stay updated on what's going on with the new show! Follow Bobby on twitter here, subscribe to his personal youtube page here, and follow his main page on tumblr here.

JOIN THE NEW SHOW ARMY!

Steam Punk Kid's Show from Weta Workshop

Thu, 14 May 2009 11:29:27 EDT

BoingBoing posted this video of Weta Workshop's new kid's show that uses the steam punk aesthetic. If you don't know, the Weta Workshop is an effects studio in New Zealand that is famous for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and other Peter Jackson projects. Indy Mogul did a Steam Punk Ray Gun episode a few months ago that actually got the attention of Weta and they posted it on their blog.

The show is too young for Indy Mogulers, but the spaceships designed by Weta in the steam punk style are really interesting. Weta proves that even if you are working on a project that isn't meant to be artistic or for a mature audience, you can still infuse creative elements and an inovative style to the work. The pre-schoolers who watch the show don't know anything about the steam punk genre, but the designs give the show a unique visual style that anyone can enjoy and probably help make the work rewarding for the designers.

As a filmmaker, you don't have to dumb down your vision even if your audience can't read.

Q & Erik LIVE (May Edition)

Tue, 12 May 2009 16:12:38 EDT

Q&Erik Live is a monthly web cast in which special effects pro, Erik Beck (along with his panel of experts) answer every and any question you have about films and film making. This is the MAY EDITION and it's now online RIGHT HERE! New episodes air LIVE on the first THURSDAY of every month, at indymogul.com

Pixilation a.k.a. Live-Action Animation

Tue, 12 May 2009 15:10:05 EDT

Pixilation...ever hear of it? Director Matthew Semel and the band Savoir Adore try out this filmmaking technique for their music video. Pixilation is a technique that creates a live-action version of animation. It's a tedious process that requires close attention to detail when shooting, but the end result is really interesting. Watch the video to see how it's done.

On Thursday, check out the music video premiere of Savoir Adore's "MERP".

Erik Beck and Indy Mogul in Maxim Magazine

Sat, 09 May 2009 13:00:00 EDT

If you look inside the May issue of Maxim Magazine, you'll see a clipping from Indy Mogul's own Erik Beck. Erik was asked for his experitse about DIY Comic -Con Costumes for the men's magazine and he provided them with some tips on how to make the costume of G.I. Joe character Snake Eyes...for Cheap! Erik strictly denies the idea that the dude in the images is a characterization of himself, but instead some "husky guy" who is following Erik's instructions. Regardless he has started an exercise regiment by bicycling into work every morning since this article came out. (That's True!)

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Sci-Fi Scanner

Fri, 08 May 2009 21:28:19 EDT

So you built your raygun, got your space suit ready, your transporter on stand-by... It seems like you're ready for your deep space expedition and any situation that you might run up against, but how about one of the most common Sci-Fi Gadget, the All-Purpose Scanner. From the Star Trek Tricorder, to the Motion Tracker from Aliens, high-tech scanning devices are common for any excursion onto an alien planet. So this week, here is a high-tech scanner prop of your very own, for cheap.

Someone asked Erik the other day on Q & Erik, about things he always saves whenever he finds them, like bottles, or something. Something that I always save are the molded plastic blister packs that electronics come in. They always have very interested, almost futuristic looking shapes, which are almost impossible to accomplish on your own unless you've got your own vac-table. So I suggest saving these, I have a few dozen of these from random things i've gotten over the last couple of years. This is from a cellphone charger (I think) and I really like the shape, so i'll use it as the basis for my "scanner".

Now for the doodads i'm going to layer onto the base...This is a calculator I found for 2 dollars. It's hard to find buttons (or at least hard to make good looking ones on your own), so when I find cheap things with buttons on them, I tend to horde them as well.

This is a credit-card size magnifying glass that I found at my local hardware store for a dollar. It also had this little button in it that which you click it lights up a little LED under the magnifying glass. I think the glass looks a little like a little screen, so I picked it, it having a button in it is just an added plus.

For the calculator, I just laid down a base coat of gray primer. Then I started messing with arrangements for what is an appealling way for them to be arranged, and finally settled on this. (The section I painted black has some numbers stamped into it, so I painted it, but i'm going to just end up covering it with paper since the numbers are protruding a lot.

I cut a piece of the calculators cardboard packing off (recycling, yay!) to cover the stamped numbers.

I painted it black, then I took some epoxy, and layed down some wads for where the calculator is going to go.

Then I push it down and let it dry.

Next, it took this bottle cap, and cut a hole for it here, under where the magnifying glass was.

Then epoxyed it into place.

Then put a couple of strips of epoxy here on the top.

Then just pushed it down into place.

I painted a few of the buttons, to help differentiate them, you could probably paint some more, or even do some symbols. I also drilled three holes in the panel on the left side...

Then three more in the top.

Next, I put a sink faucet filter head over it, and epoxy it into place.

Next, I tore out the LED Module back from the flying saucer build a few weeks ago. And I threaded the lights into the three holes on the front, and the three holes on the top, then epoxyd the rest into place under the bottle cap. Then just epoxyed the module into place.

Next, I cut out this piece of foam board and stuck it on the back as a back panel. I then can either epoxy it into place and be a pain, or I get some pins and stick them along the sides to keep it in place. It's up to you, but if you epoxy it into place, it'll make changing the batteries on the LED module a true pain, so consider a "less permanent" option.

And there you go, you're own Sci-Fi scanner. Now just hit the button before you close it up (Or poke a hole in the back panel so you can hit the button with a pencil), and have your lights blink. They are blinking in this picture, you can see a few under the magnifying glass going off, and one of the three holes over on the left going off, but it's kind of washed out from the flash, so they don't look nearly as bright as they actually are, but they are pretty darn bright, especially in the dark where they can almost light up a room on their own.

NOW, all you do is head over to the Freesound Project, and search for sci-fi noises, or scanner sounds (which they have plenty of) and throw that into your film as your actor hits the buttons on it and "scans" the area. OR, even go on to Mogulville (Specifically the Indy Mogul Free Music Project) and ask someone to make some custome "scanning" noises for you.

And there you go, finally all set for your own 5 year mission! See you next week!

Send in your favorite Best Short Films memories & Get on Next Week's SEASON FINALE!

Thu, 07 May 2009 12:43:20 EDT

You've watched Part 1 of "The Best Short Films In The World" Season Finale. Now, listen to Bobby's kid puppet tell you about what you need to do to get featured in the final episode of the Season...Submit your video responses today and don't forget to leave a voicemail too! 646-274-4625. We need your video/voicemail lovin' soon in order to get in next week's episode!

View the Entire Films from Episode 31 - Season Finale Part 1

Thu, 07 May 2009 11:22:55 EDT

You've seen the clips from the show here.
Now, watch the films in their entirety below!

Did you like a film? Hate it?! Discuss it below with other filmmakers and film fans!
Also: If you really like a film, please visit the filmmakers sites and email them and let them know!

BROKEN THINGS
by Vincent Lambe
Email the Filmmaker.
View his website.

COUNTRY ROAD
By Tom Gruber
Email the Filmmaker.
View his website.

MORNING
Directed by Artem Indjikian
Email the Filmmaker.
Visit their website.

Indy Mogul Wins 3 Webby Awards! Thank You!

Tue, 05 May 2009 16:01:11 EDT

Thank You Indy Mogul Fans!!! The Official 2009 Webby Awards Winners were announced this morning and Indy Mogul has won 3 Webby Awards including 2 People's Voice Awards! (Those are what we care about most!)

Indy Mogul

'Official Winner' for How-To DIY

'People's Voice' Winner for How-To DIY

Best Short Films in the World

'People's Voice' Winner for 'Variety'

Indy Mogul wants to thank all of you who voted and gave us your amazing support. It means a lot to us to have such devoted fans who really support what we do. We have the greatest fans and none of our shows would be possible without you. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Best of all, Bobby Miller and Best Short Films in the World beat out Jimmy Fallon for the People's Voice Award! You all helped make the competiton fun and exciting, and in the end you made it happen. We did it! But, we do want to congratulate Jimmy for winning the Official Award and thank him for being a good sport, playing along with us through it all.

We also have to congratulate our Next New Networks friends Barely Digital on their win of both the Official Award and the People's Voice Award in the category, "BestVideo Remix/Mashup" for their video, Bill O'Reilley's Producer - The Unseen Footage.

"Rockbottom Productions" goes to Europe!

Tue, 05 May 2009 03:22:08 EDT

Episode 1: Plane and Simple! from Neko Neko Films on Vimeo.

Neko Neko Films, the force and the presence behind "Rockbottom Productions", is on a tour of Europe and they are filming EVERYTHING! Are we jealous of their European travels, prop airplane flying, motorcycle crashing, and castle storming? Heck YES!

We previously featured episode one and two of the wacky their series and are eagerly awaiting episode 3, but in the mean time check out the awesome video blogs. Besides having moments of creative editing and beautiful cinematography, the true fun is the fun the Nekonians, as they call themselves, are having as they explore Europe. So, watch, enjoy, and drool.

CHECK OUT THE WHOLE SERIES HERE

Interview: Director Sandy Collora

Mon, 04 May 2009 04:45:50 EDT

The name Sandy Collora might not immediately jump out at you as someone whose work you're familiar with. But even if you don't know it by heart (yet), chances are that you have definitely seen his work... Unless of course you've been living under a rock for the last 30 years. Sandy has an extensive and renowned resume, working on such films as The Abyss, Jurassic Park, Robocop 2, Predator 2, Total Recall, The Crow, Men in Black, and Dogma (just to name a few). While working on all of these films, he has kept up his own portfolio, constantly pumping out his own creations, and making some short films that have gained him wider recognition. Recently, I got a chance to talk to Mr. Collora and ask him some questions about this long career, and learn more about how someone can really make it doing something they love....

Wesley: I know that you started very early as an artist, drawing and painting. What would you say was your biggest inspiration towards wanting to become an artist, and what were your earliest aspirations regarding art before you finally decided to try to get into the film industry?

Sandy: Comic books. That's actually how I learned to read. I had these cool Planet of the Apes

comics that were popular in the 70's, that came with a 45 record that you played while you

read the book. Those were super cool. When I got a little bit older, I discovered magazines

like Creepy, Eerie, and Heavy Metal, that all became a huge influence. The artists in there

were doing artwork that was much more painterly and advanced, if you will, than traditional

comic books at that time. Frazetta, Moebius, Richard Corben, Sanjulian, Liberatore, were all

very inspiring to me. I have a huge pile of those magazines in my studio till this day, that I

re-read all the time and flip through for inspiration or when I need a good dose of pure 70's

art nostalgia and coolness.

There were actually a lot of things that influenced my art when I was young. I was born in 1968,

so that put me at the perfect age bracket during the seventies, which was truly an amazing decade to

be a kid. There was so much inspiration all around you at that time; On Saturday morning television,

in toys like The Micronauts and the Mego superheroes, and of course, in movie theaters, where I

spent most of my childhood, devouring 70's genre classics like Jaws, CE3K, Alien, Logan's Run,

all the Planet of the Apes sequels, Rollerball, and of course, Star Wars. I've always been a huge

fan of the cinema experience. Sitting in the dark with your popcorn, the movies brought me to

another place, another time. All those movies had characters and adventures that sparked my

imagination and hit my artistic nerve, inspiring me to dream, and create my own.

That's really when it all changed for me. I mean, the focus from wanting to be an artist to wanting

to be a filmmaker. I knew I'd always draw and be creative in some way, but somehow I had a

feeling it was all going to be part of a much bigger picture, I just didn't quite know how yet. Back

then, there wasn't anywhere near the amount of information out there regarding how to make films

or how to even start to think about actually getting into the business. This was before the internet

and DVD's that have endless hours of "making of" documentaries and so forth. The accessibility

to anything like that was extremely limited back then, so I really didn't even know where to start.

I had a few issues of Cinemagic magazine and all the Art of Star Wars books, but aside from the

occasional TV special and some film books my parents brought me back from Europe, I really

had no idea what the actual art of filmmaking was all about. I mean, I knew more about it than any

of my friends on my little league team, but by the time the eighties had rolled around, and I started

high school, I pretty much had accepted the fact that if I wanted to chase down my dreams and have

a real shot at catching them, I had to move to LA.

W: You moved out to LA at a very young age, trying to break into the
industry. What was it like moving out to such a big city, and trying
to do something that many people have not been successful at? Were you
ever worried that you wouldn't be able to "cut it", and if so, how did
you deal with them?

S: It was daunting. I can't lie about that. I was young, naive, and somewhat insecure about not only

how I was going to do all this, but who I was inside. At that age, you're still trying to discover

yourself, find your place in the world, and let me tell you, Hollywood is one strange world. LA, in

and of itself, was somewhat of a culture shock, but the whole movie business thing was something

completely different. I've been in it now for over 20 years, and I still don't know where I fit into it all.

It's kind of its own animal and is quite different from anything I've ever experienced. It's hard. It

always has been for me, but I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I knew very early on

that I was never going to be happy working in a creature shop, slinging plaster or sculpting monsters

for the rest of my life. I always wanted to be a director and that's what I always worked towards.

Admittedly, I spent more time doing the sculpting and FX stuff than I would have liked. Hell, I even

got sidetracked sculpting toys and action figures for a few years, but you can never predict when the

timing for something is going to be quite right. I was never worried that I'd never be able to "cut it", but I

knew I was standing, looking up at an enormous mountain in front of me. In a way, it motivated me,

but I also fell off the mountain on the way up, several times. I still fall, but the most important thing is

that I always get back up and keep climbing, because this business will always try to knock you down.

W: You started your filmmaking career in 1988 working on the crew for
the George P. Cosmatos film "Leviathan", as a member of Stan Winston's
team. Can you tell us a little about moving out to LA and landing your
position with one of the premiere effects houses in the world, and
what it was like working on your first big production?

S: Leaving home at 17 years old, especially with my parents knowing full well that I had no interest

in really going to college and had stars in my eyes, was no easy feat. In order for them to let me

leave our modest home in Staten Island NY, I had to enroll in college, so I did. It's no coincidence

that I wound up at California State University Northridge, literally right around the corner from Stan

Winston Studios. I was an industrial design major there for a year and built up a portfolio of drawings

and sculptures, that I then took over to Stan's and got hired on the spot. Well, needless to say,

college became secondary and I eventually dropped out and went to work there full time.

To this very day, that is still without question, the most magical and special time in my entire

life. What I learned there, from Stan and all of the incredibly talented artists there, was the

foundation that I would build my entire career on, and provided the opportunity for me to grow and

develop, not only as an artist, but as a person. I was literally like a sponge there, soaking up

everything that I could, and asking tons of questions regarding every aspect of the process.

I was deeply saddened by Stan's untimely passing late last year, and miss him a lot.

Shortly after that, I was fortunate enough to meet the man who would have the biggest influence

on my life and career, and become my mentor. I'd first seen pictures of Henry Alvarez in movie

magazines, he was kind of a legend at that point already and was working for Rob Bottin at the time,

heading up the sculpture department. I got introduced to him through a guy who'd worked with him

there, and after the "let's see how serious this kid is" trial period, I started working at Alvarez Wax

Models, studying under Henry, eventually going on to work with Bottin as well, and the rest as they

say, is history. I've grow very close to Henry, his son Nick, and lovely wife Andrea over the past 20

years. In all of my travels, I have never met a more kind, loving, humble and talented family. The role

each one of them has played in my growth and development as an artist and a human being is truly

without measure.

W: Can you tell us a little about what you started out doing on the FX Crews on the first few films you worked on?

S: I started cleaning molds, patching foam latex creature suits and other little, menial tasks, like

making acrylic teeth and fingernails. That was on Leviathan and Alien Nation. On subsequent

shows, I worked my way up the ladder, eventually making molds, running foam, and then into the

paint department. Sculpting and designing came soon after that on The Abyss, Little Monsters,

Total Recall, Spaced Invaders, The Crow and The Arrival. I went from shop to shop, show to show,

learning as I went, getting to work with different FX guys and different directors, my favorite being

Jim Cameron. After The Abyss, I went on to do concept paintings for Spider-man, when he was

attached to do that film.

There were tons of little gigs in between, too... I worked on a few of the Nightmare on Elm Street

films, painting a piece here or a piece there. I made some frog masks for the second Frogtown

movie, worked on a bunch of TV shows and commercials, sculpting stuff or making models, even

doing make-up. Back then, there were a lot of these little, lower end shops that either got work farmed

out to them from bigger shops, or got little jobs on really low budget horror flicks. I think everyone who's

done this type of work has toiled through a few of those shows.

Like I said, at that time, learning all of this stuff and becoming very proficient at all of it, was important.

There always was a much bigger picture inside my head, regarding where I was going to go and what

I was going to do, but I knew I had to crawl before I could walk, especially given the kinds of films

I wanted to make. It was crucial for me to learn and understand every aspect of Special Effects, to

be able to utilize them to their fullest potential when the time came.

W: Most people aren't aware of really the size of the team behind an
effect that we might see on screen for just a few seconds. Can you
tell us a little about what goes on behind the scenes on a major
effect shot, and about how important it is to have everyone working as
a team?

S: That depends on the effect and the budget of the film it's in, quite honestly. On something like

the Leviathan, that was a very large, very complex, mechanical creature, with a man inside of it,

takes quite the team of people to make work. Things like prosthetic facial make-ups and the

like, take less people on set to apply and maintain, but still need to be designed, sculpted, molded,

cast, trimmed, painted and applied. In most cases, at least in my experience, that's all done by

different people in different departments of the shop. I always worked because I could do all those

jobs, and coordinate all the people to do them as well.

I actually remember very early on, Alec Gillis, who was running Stan Winston's at the time, told me

that even though I didn't want to make molds or like doing it, that it was good for me to learn, so when

there was no sculpting left to do, I could stay employed and mold what I had sculpted, instead of being

laid off until the next sculpting job. He impressed upon me the fact that being well rounded, and having

a working knowledge of all aspects of the effects process, would make me a very valuable asset to

an FX shop. Well, I took that advice to heart, and also more importantly, to the next level. I applied it

not only to doing FX work, but to every aspect of the filmmaking process.

I starting literally consuming information about how movies were made. I even offered to go and help out

on set for free on some shows I worked on. Sometimes, I would even sneak on to sets and just tell the

DP or AD that I was a PA, and ask what I should do. They'd just tell me what to do, and I'd work on the

movie until someone eventually, sometimes after weeks, would finally say; "Hey, who the hell is that guy?"

Getting first hand experience with all different kinds of directors and crew people, I saw how a filmmaking

team works and operates. How they went about their jobs, how they interacted and worked with each other,

and how one person's job affected another's.

That hands on experience is something you absolutely cannot get any other way. I don't care what film

school you went to, or how many "making of" or behind the scenes features you watch on DVD. If you

want to make a real contribution to this business and be part of its creative upper echelon, you've got to

pay your dues and work up the ladder. You need to work with good people, talented people and learn from

them and the crews they surround themselves with. Knowledge of the craft and of the process is essential

in making something real and that people will notice. This isn't "Days of Thunder"... You can't learn it by

watching it on television.

W: You eventually moved from working on effects crews, to also working
as a Conceptual and Storyboard artist. What is the work of a Concept
or Storyboard artist like, and how did you get your (I believe) first
job as a Concept Artist, working on the James Cameron film "The
Abyss"?

S: Honestly, I really don't remember what my first design job was, but it wasn't The Abyss. I was a

sculptor on that show, for two different shops actually, Steve Johnson's and Don Penningtons.

I worked on the NTI creature and the interior of the NTI ship. I think the first design gig might have

been for Tim Lawrence, designing giant lizards for some TV show or something he was doing

there at the time.

If I was going to work on a movie, I've always preferred to draw and design stuff as opposed to being

in "the shop", breathing in all those chemicals and stuff. So much of that stuff is toxic; The paints,

urethanes, etc, that were in use at that time, were super hazardous to breathe if they're not used in

places with proper ventilation. Whenever I did have to paint or work with the toxic stuff, I always wore

a respirator. The design and story boarding jobs also entailed working one on one with the director,

which I liked. I started learning more about directing by doing that. It gave me a feel for different

director's styles, preferences, and sensibilities.

I really looked up to Cameron. He was an FX guy and art director who came from the Roger Corman

school of filmmaking, so he knew how to do a lot with a little. I'd seen his drawings from Terminator and

Aliens, and was completely blown away. The guys at Stan's raved about how good of a director he was.

This was a guy who could draw, sculpt, build models, operate the camera, etc... The short time I spent

with him on The Abyss was by far, the greatest influence and education I've ever had as a director.

I don't know if he ever noticed that really, as I wasn't someone of any real importance on that film,

but I just remember being so damn impressed by the man. He knew everything about every aspect

of filmmaking and struck me as hyper intelligent as well. With the exception of the actors, he could do

everyone's job on that set better than they could, and they all knew it. I wanted to be like him.

W: As a member of a larger Conceptual team, how do you first begin to
formulate how a creature you're working on is going to look like, are
you given the descriptions straight from the script, or are you given
an outline and given some leeway to work in?

S: I'd like to be able to give you this long, elaborate answer about how I go about that whole process, but

to be honest, I just start drawing. Whatever comes out, is what I turn in. It's a very spontaneous thing for

me. Always has been, I think the first thought that manifests itself on paper, after reading the script or

talking to the director, is the most pure the design will ever get. What happens after that, can go either way.

It depends on the concept and even more so, on the director.

Sometimes there'd be leeway. Sometimes not. Sometimes my design got so bastardized and re-worked,

it was pretty much unrecognizable, and sometimes it made it to the screen pretty much untouched. Each

show was different. Men in Black, for example, had so many designers working on it, that I really don't

think that anyone's designs really made it to the final film unscathed. I personally did a ton of sketches

for the Edgar cockroach, as did other artists working at Rick Bakers, but the whole creature wound up

being CG, and was re-designed completely by the ILM guys. Stuff like that happens all the time.

Then, there's always the "Oh my God, what did the CG guys do to my monster?" situation. Case in point;

The Arrival. I worked very closely with the director David Twohy, and designed this very elegant, almost

fragile looking alien for the film. When I saw it in the theater, I could not believe how different the design

was, and how the CG department just kind of did their own thing with it. I never spoke to David about it,

but I guess that's why my credit got knocked down to "additional alien design". That was a new one for

me. Hell, at least I got a screen credit on that one. I can't even tell you how many movies I worked on

and didn't get credit.

W: Your job required a lot of skill, having to take a creature built
from words, form that into a visual concept, and then have other
artists take your work and create something, solid and "real". What
are the steps that the art would generally take as you got feedback
from the rest of the crew, and the team developed a creative consensus
for how the final characters and creatures are going to look?

S: Like I said in the last answer, it was always different. Each movie was a different experience and a

different group of people. Remember, I was never really solely in charge of what a particular creature

or monster was going to be. The project supervisors and eventually the director, always had the last word.

I did a lot of designs of different shows that were never even presented to the director. I have stacks of

drawings I did for Predator 2 and many others, that people to this day, have never seen. On other shows,

directors specifically asked for me to design stuff for them. It's always up to the director. He's the boss,

you do what he says, and that's that.

W: Looking at your body of work, you seem to have an intense love for
the Alien and the Monstrous, have you always had this love for the
fantastical, or is it something that you developed out of necessity
for the kinds of jobs you had to undertake?

S: I've always been an alien and monster guy. Always will be. At this point in my career, I really don't

have any interest in making films about things that don't involve the fantastical. I'm not really a "neat

little slice of life" kind of guy. I like making movies about things that only exist in the imagination

of the filmmaker.

W: Having had so many jobs, Artist, Design, sculpture, all steps of
the effects process, writer, director, etc. What would you say is the
hardest job you've had to undertake, and why?

S: Director, no question. It's a lot of responsibility and requires incredible focus. You also need to be a

leader. There's so much more involved in directing a motion picture, than anything I've ever done.

You're responsible for so many things, everything really. It's a very interesting thing, directing. It's

both very complex and very simple... Very hard, but but aspects of it come very easy and very

naturally to me. I like the challenge of it all and being in charge. I definitely enjoy shooting much more

than any other part of the directing process, but it's all an incredible adventure. A creative journey

that is quite rewarding. I think being a feature film director is the bee's knees. There's nothing better.

W: Your Directorial debut occurred in 1999, with your film "Solomon
Bernstein's Bathroom". What was it like moving from an artistic and
conceptual role to the position of Director, and how did you deal with
moving from a position where your were interpreting someone else's
ideas and vision, to one where you had to forge your own?

S: That all came very naturally. Of course I hadn't ever directed before, but with all my experience in

different aspects of the process, and having worked with directors like Cameron on set, I was very

comfortable and had a good working knowledge of how to handle things. No one on the crew could

believe I had never directed before. As a matter of fact, I remember Henry Alvarez asking me; "How

do you know all this stuff? The camera, lenses, the lights, how to work with the actors?" I was kinda

like "I dunno, I just know..."

Granted, I was nowhere even near the filmmaker I am today, as I'm sure I'm not the filmmaker now,

that I'll be in another 10 years, but like I said, it came very naturally and I was never overwhelmed or

uncomfortable. I learned a lot on that movie and continue to learn as I direct more and more. It's all a

big adventure to me, one of growth, change and discovery.

W: Perhaps one of your most well known undertakings (at least to the
internet audience at large) is your 2003 Short film, "Batman: Dead
End", as a Batman fan it was one of the first fan films that just
shocked me with it's quality. The film got heavy praise from the likes
of Writer/Director Kevin Smith, and famed comic artist Alex Ross. Can
you talk a little about the creation of the film, some of the reaction
too it, and why you choose the Batman character as a demonstration for
your Directing skills?

S: Ya know, there have been a lot of things written and said about that little short film; About why I made it, how I made it, what the budget was, where I got the costumes, etc... So right here, right now, I'll tell you a few things, directly from the director, so to speak...

First of all, more than anything, Batman Dead End was an experiment. I wanted to see if the Batman I grew up with and loved from the comics, would work if literally translated on film. If you really think about it, that had never been done before, and I needed to see if the reality and the human element of the character could work on film.

The dark, gritty, vulnerable, hero without a clunky rubber suit or foam muscles. A real, brooding, complex creature of the night, who could turn his head, and I wanted to do it without separating the neck from the cowl, so his head doesn't look like a light bulb. Even simple things like the white eyes, Batman disguising his voice, or even the rain for instance, had never ever been done in a Batman movie, so I put it up there on the screen and made that dark, gritty, tougher version of the character, come alive.

Another myth about Batman Dead End, is that I got the Predator and Alien costumes from Stan Winston. Because of my extensive FX background and people I know in the industry, a few costume pieces here and there, were donated to the film, but we made all that stuff. I personally sculpted the predator suit with Nick Damon, and hand painted each one myself. So, although Stan was supportive of my endeavor, he did not give me a bunch of predator and alien suits. Endless hours of hard work from my talented cast and crew, made those suits come to life.

Regarding the reaction and what that film has become... Well, I think the millions of downloads, the feedback on all the message boards and the literally hundreds of articles and interviews that were done on and about the film, speak for themselves. People still come up to me and say it's the best version of the character ever put to film. Even people that work at DC and at WB, have told me very similar things. That's enough for me.

W: Your latest work is your feature debut, "Hunter Prey", can you
tell us a little about the film, and what it's been like transitioning
from shorts to this effects laden Sci-Fi feature?

S: Hunter Prey has been quite the adventure. It was a hard shoot and just rough in general, but the only real difference, or transition I had to make, was that everything was just longer. It took longer to write, to prep, to shoot, and to finish.

There's just a lot more involved, time wise on a feature, than a short. It's much more of a commitment. Honestly, the level of the work was consistent with what I had done on my shorts, especially because a lot of the same crew were involved, there was just so much more of it to do. It's harder when you don't have a lot of money or a big crew, you wind up doing a lot of the work yourself, but it's all worth it. Everyone winds up wearing several hats and doing more than one job, it's just the way a lot of these low budget, genre films get made.

W: "Hunter Prey" seems to have been incubating within you for a very
long time, can you talk about how you first came up with the idea, and
the tribulations you've had with taking your idea and finally forming
it into the film you now have?

S: I'd say a low budget, genre feature had been incubating for quite a while, no question, but the original concept for this film, was brought to me in August of 2007 by my writing partner, Nick Damon. It just clicked. He had this great idea for a sci-fi flick that could be made on a low budget. After a few brainstorming sessions, we had it all figured out and Nick started writing and I started drawing. It was a long prep time and getting all the costumes, props, creature stuff and models, done for the money we had, was a challenge. I'm very hands on with all that stuff, so that was a crazy busy time for me. I'd be sculpting a maquette in the morning, then after lunch, I'd be on the phone with the prop guys in NY, going over emailed photos and doing sketches. Then at night, I would write and talk with Nick. All this while doing storyboards, meeting with the DP a few times a week, and making the schedule.

Producers Simon Tams and Daren Hicks got involved as that stuff was all being finished, and started making all the arrangements for shooting in Mexico and so forth. There were issues that needed to be worked out with SAG and other stuff, so by the time I had everything storyboarded, built and made the schedule, we were pretty much ready to go. We shot for 17 days and did 3 pick up days here in LA, including a pretty extensive miniature shoot. There were compromises I had to make here and there, mostly because of budgetary reasons, and I had to think on my feet a lot to make the days, but I'd say the film I wound up with, is very close to my original vision. I'm very proud of it, and of my extraordinary cast and crew.

W: You decided to shoot "Hunter Prey" with the Red One system, can
you talk a little about why you shot the film digitally, and the Pros
and Cons of utilizing a digital system compared to shooting with film?

S: I didn't "decide" to shoot Hunter Prey on Red. I was kinda forced into it. That's just what was available to me and for the budget we had, was the best option. If I had the money and the choice, I would have shot 35mm anamorphic. Hell, I would have rather shot 3 perf, super 35 or even super 16, over digital, but sadly, shooting

film on this project was just not realistic. The producers of the picture, Simon Tams and Daren Hicks, had just purchased a Red Camera and were very, very excited about using it for Hunter Prey. They took me to a Red user group, where I could play with the most recent build of the camera and check out some footage, meet
some DP's and directors that had shot with it, and drink some red kool aid.

Turns out I wound up meeting the DP who would go on to shoot Hunter Prey, Ed Gutentag, that very day.
He was very knowledgeable about the camera and did a great job on the film. I can't say I didn't like the
red camera. I liked it and I think the movie looks really good. All in all, it was a great experience and I'd shoot
with that camera again if the situation and project were right, but I still prefer film. To me, there's just something very romantic about the texture and physical process of film. I like to hear the film moving through the magazine when I'm operating. I like the weight of a 35mm camera on my shoulder with a full, 1,000 foot mag on the top.

Film is alive. It lives and breathes. I like the way it smells, the way it feels in my hands when I'm loading. It's
emulsion, it exists in real time and space. The whole digital thing to me, is just... I dunno... Cold.

Pros; In most cases, cheaper and faster. Cons; Doesn't, and will never look as good, or have the warmth and texture of film, and is a bitch to color balance and light correctly if you want it to look good. A camera is like any other tool used in making a movie, it's a chunk of metal with a lens on it. If you don't know how to use it, or putsomething really cool in front of it, it's useless.

W: You've had a long career, over 20 years in the industry, working
on some amazing films with some huge names, and have finally completed
a task that many young filmmakers only dream about, shooting their own
feature-length film. Looking back in reflection, what do you feel is
the most important piece of advice that you have to offer to many of
the Young Filmmakers that are now in the same position that you were
almost 2 decades ago?

S: That is a really, really hard question to answer. The industry is so different now, than it was when
I started, in so many different ways. I think technology and the and accessibility of filmmaking tools to
younger guys now, has changed the playing field quite a bit. In some ways, it's much easier now to
physically go and make something, but I think it's actually harder to "break in" though, as a result of it.
Everyone's got a digital camera now. Everyone's got editing software and pro tools on their laptop. We're
in the midst of a technological revolution of sorts, but what people have a tendency to forget, is that no
matter how advanced or affordable the technology becomes, you still need to be talented to make a good
movie with all that stuff.

The bottom line here is, I don't really feel I'm in a position to give advice to anyone. Each person and each
situation is different. I can't predict what a studio, independent investor or production company is going to do,
or how they'll react to a filmmaker's work or lack thereof. No one can. All you can do is make the best film
you can, with the money and resources available to you, and work with good people. Talented people who can help bring your vision to life and make your movie the best it can be. Just remember two things; You'll never be able to please everybody, and If you try to please everybody, you'll fail.

W: And finally, where will we be able to see "Hunter Prey" when it's
released, and what other projects do you have coming up that we can
keep our eyes open for in the future?

S: Regarding the first part of the question, the answer is simply that I do not know yet. The film should be done by the end of June. After that, we'll have to see how everything plays out. Once I deliver the film, I'm not responsible for when or how it's going to get released. There's so much involved in all that stuff, its all the business end of things and I don't get involved in that stuff. I know the initial response to the film on line, has been incredible. Everyone seems to be digging it, but marketing and selling a film to buyers, from what I'm told, is quite different from selling a film to it's audience. Go figure... I dunno, I just work here.

Moviehouse in London, an international sales group has already picked us up, so we'll see how things go at Cannes.
As far as other projects, I've already had a few options present themselves, just as result of all the buzz Hunter Prey is getting. I've got a couple of things up my sleeve... Stay tuned.

Thank you for talking to us today Mr. Collora, and we all can't wait to see what you have planned next.

To keep up with Collora's Future Work, and to stay on top of when Hunter Prey when it's released, check out Sandy's Website's below...

LINKS:

Collora Studios Website

Hunter Prey Official Website

Wesley's Weekly SPECIAL: The Blood Test

Fri, 01 May 2009 20:00:00 EDT

In my experiences talking to my fellow filmmakers, blood is by far the most common "first effect" that people usually learn how to accomplish on the screen, AND it's also one of the earliest things we taught you here on Indy Mogul. BUT, one thing we've never done is shown you alternative blood recipes. Although there has been plenty of discussion on this topic in Mogulville, we have yet to do a comprehensive analysis of all of the different recipes we've found for fake blood all over the internet... UNTIL NOW.

Today I want to take some of the most common (and some not so common) recipes for fake blood that i've heard or found all over the internet, and put them to a test, showing how they look on skin, how they look on cloth (and how badly they stain it), AND how well they splatter. So here you go, the first official Indy Mogul BLOOD TEST.

SAMPLE #1 - Store bought theatrical blood:

This is theatrical blood that you can get at most costume shops, and get in bulk around Halloween. On the packaging for mine it lists Ethyl Glycol and Hydrocellulose as the main ingredients, but there are other formulas, just this seems to be common. It has a nice viscosity, that seems pretty darn close to real fresh blood.

This is just some smeared on my arm, I think it smudges nicely, and soaks into the skin well. It's pretty easy to clean off, but it CAN stain for a while, takes me a few washes to get it off of my hands.

It soaks into the cloth really good, and looks pretty good I think as fresh blood.

And here is ther Splatter test. Scooped up some, and flung it. Very nice splatter ability, droplets are great, the blooming around the edges is a lot like blood.

SAMPLE #2 - Strawberry Syrup:

This is Strawberry Syrup I got at the story, it's the same kind that you can mix into milk, or put onto Ice Cream. It also has a nice viscosity, but even with extra red and a little bit of green added to darken it up, it still looks a bit "pink" to me.

On my skin, it still looks a little light, and it beads up a little. If your fake sugar liquid based blood does this, mix a little more water into it and add more red.

Now the cloth test, it's a little lighter than the theatrical blood, and it stays sticky while the theatrical blood dries and doesn't produce any residue. Just something to keep in mind.

It splatters ok, but it isn't as dark, and it doesn't bloom the same way as theatrical blood.

SAMPLE #3 - Glycerine-based Moisturizer/Lubricant:

This is a watery moisturizer that I got at the store. I would advise to get a thinner one, but if you get a thicker one like KY Jelly, you can water it down (or keep it thick for specialized uses), and put 7 drops of red food coloring, and one drop of green food coloring in it. It's very dark and red, and has a nice viscosity.

It spreads nicely on skin, and doesn't bead at all.

And the cloth test. It spreads nicely, and absorbs really well.

It splatters really nicely, and splatters into droplets a lot easier than it seemed the theatrical blood did.

SAMPLE #4 - Shampoo/Liquid Soap:

It seems pretty viscous and is decently thick, but it forms bubbles really easily, which might cause some issues.

The shampoo spreads really nicely, but it's really bright, and is a bit thicker than blood, so it gels up easily.

It's nice and dark on the cloth, and I like how it looks, but it stays kind of sticky, so that can be an issue.

It splatters nicely, but doesn't really speckle very much as it's kind of thick.

SAMPLE #5 - Petroleum Jelly:

It is VERY thick. And it doesn't take the food coloring very well at all. This might be good for like goo on zombies, or as drying congealed blood, but it doesn't look like fresh blood at all.

On my skin it is very thick, and VERY greasy. I think this is too thick and too purple to be fresh blood, but it might work for some dissolved skin (like from acid) because it looks very gooey.

It looks better on cloth. I think this is because, looking very closely at it, as I stirred it, the dye and the jelly aren't really combining, but seems to be suspended within it kind of like tiny air bubbles. So when I spread it, the bubbles are "breaking" and it gets redder when it hits the fabric. It probably wouldn't be that bad for like dried blood, BUT it's VERY greasy, so I just don't think this is a good blood recipe at all. I was told that it looks similar to some of the darker blood that can be coughed up by people with respitory infections, so maybe you could use it for that purpose, it's up to you.

It splatters with the consistency of clay, so yes, badly.

SAMPLE #6 - Strawberry Jelly/Jam:

I mixed a little more red into it, and I think it actually looks pretty good. It's nice and thick, and would probably be good for drying thicker blood. Better than the petroleum jelly recipe for a thicker gelled blood by far.

I actually like how it looks, but it tends to bead up a little, so add a little water.

I think it looks nice on the fabric, and looks very thick, and the bits of strawberry in it looks like pieces of organic matter, so I think this might be a good idea for a base for a brain matter splatter.

I think it splatters ok, but it doesn't break apart really at all. It stays very thick, and so I think would work better as a part of a bigger splatter, like I said previously if you needed to throw something against a wall for something like a brain matter splatter, I think this might work pretty well.

SAMPLE #7 - Golden Syrup:

Many of our British Mogulers have reported in the past having issues finding Corn Syrup, which is (unfortunately for those who can't find it) used as the base for about 99% of the fake Blood recipes i've found around the internet. So I decided to dig up something that I have been told is easier to find for our British friends, Golden Syrup. Golden Syrup, is a kind of inverted cane syrup, and is very similar to honey. It's also the basis for a lot of Pancake syrups, and if you can't find Golden Syrup, you could easily substitute a Pancake syrup.

Regardless, I REALLY like how this looks, and the consistency of it is really nice.

It smears nicely, but I would probably perfer it to be a bit darker.

I like how it spreads out a lot, and it's nice and bright.

I think it splatters nicely, but it's still a bit thicker than real blood, so you might want to water it down just barely.

SAMPLE #8 - Chocolate Syrup:

It's VERY dark. This is obviously ideal for Black and White Films. But for color, you'll need to water it down and add truely massive amounts of red food coloring to get it start looking right.

It looks a lot better spread out on skin. It's really dark, and I think works really well for dried out and darker blood.

It darkens up on the cloth a bit, and I think looks just about perfect for dried blood.

I think it splatters well, but it's pretty thick. Since it's so dark, and almost opaque, you could probably water it down a bunch.

SAMPLE #9 - Tomato Juice:

Tomato Juice doesn't make good fake blood in most cases, but with added red coloring, it can work pretty well if you need something that is actually drinkable without making you want to brush your teeth. It's VERY watery, but it's got a nice color, even if it's a little to orange for my taste.

It doesn't look great, and it's very thin, but it actually does stay on your skin, but probably the worst out of everything i've tested.

The tomato juice looks pretty good on cloth, but it is VERY bright, and very orange.

By far the most watery out of all of the recipes I tested. Splatters VERY easily, but is very pink after it splatters.

Now, time to take the cloth splotches, and put them in the washer for the final...

STAINING TEST

I put the bundle in the washer, and put an even amount of detergent on each sample, washed it for a normal spin cycle with hot water, no bleach.

SAMPLE #1 - Theatrical Blood - Minor Stain

SAMPLE #2 - Strawberry Syrup - No Stain

SAMPLE #3 - Glycerine-based Moisturizer/Lubricant - Minor/Medium Stain

SAMPLE #4 - Shampoo/Liquid Soap - No Stain

SAMPLE #5 - Petroleum Jelly - Medium Stain

SAMPLE #6 - Strawberry Jam - No Stain

SAMPLE #7 - Golden Syrup - No Stain

SAMPLE #8 - Chocolate Syrup - No Stain

SAMPLE #9 - Tomato Juice - Medium Stain

Overall, the Petroleum Jelly seemed to stain the worst, with the Tomato Juice a close second.

So there you have it, a comprehensive look at a lot of the fake blood recipes out there, hopefully this helps you all for the next time you need some fake blood.

Personally, overall, I would say my favorite is probably the Glycerine based personal lubricant, it looked great, and I really liked how it held up on the tests, and in a blind test, 3 different people said it looked the most like real blood out of all the samples, beating out even the theatrical blood.

Awesome Opportunity to Go to Cannes!

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:41:08 EDT

YouTube and Cannes Lions have partnered to search for two young creatives to win an all-expenses paid trip to this year's Cannes Festival and fill a new 38th place as Team YouTube in the 2009 Young Lions Film Competition. What does that mean for you? Well, if you're between 18 and 28-years-old, you can participate in this challenge.

All you need to do is wait until May 15th for the creative brief to go online. Then, you'll have 48 hours to make a video and submit it to YouTube. After that, you'll have from May 17th to June 1st to get as many views on the video as possible! Two winners will be picked, judged on creativity and the videos' views, ratings and footprint. They will win an all-expenses-paid trip to Cannes to represent YouTube in the prestigious Young Lions contest.

This is a great opportunity for any young filmmaker to challenge themselves, work hard and possibly make it out to this year's Cannes Festival.

Click here for more information on the 48 Hour Ad Contest

LAST DAY to help Best Short Films BEAT JIMMY FALLON!

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:03:56 EDT

DontLetJimmyWin.com

View the Entire Films from Episode 30 - Experimental Films

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:59:21 EDT

CITRUS
by Josh Rachbach
Email the Filmmaker.
View his website.

REDITE
By Patrick Boivin
Email the Filmmaker.
View his website.

THE 5TH DISEASE
Directed by Farhad Zamani
Email the Filmmaker.
Visit their website.

Download the Wolverine Musical MP3

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:09:25 EDT

We've received a ton of requests asking us to post the song from our Wolverine The Musical Original Short for download. We're happy to offer the MP3 for download. Click here to Download!

Enjoy!

Compelling Special Effects for Cheap

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:57:24 EDT

Overcoming geographical differences, NYC-based director Chris Piazza and British musician Neil Halstead talk concepts, special effects, and how to make a big idea work using less than $100. Check out how these two created a music video on the cheap!

Come back Thursday for the music video premiere of Neil Halstead's "Elevenses".

IndyMogul Fans Respond to Jimmy Fallon Tirade - 2 Days Left to Vote!

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:39:15 EDT

IndyMogul superstar SkyCarl submitted this heartwarming, "Song for Bobby" in response to Jimmy Fallon's tirade against The Best Short Films In The World. (Click here if you haven't seen that video.)

But, SkyCarl wasn't the only one to submit a video response! Check out these fellow Mogulers! Submit your video response too! And keep on spreading DontLetJimmyWin.com!

2 Days Left to Vote!

Lets make "The Best Short Films In The World" The People's Voice Winner for "Best Variety Show" in the 2009 Webby Awards.

Just go to: PV.WebbyAwards.com

You have till April 30th, 11:59PM EST.

Also, check out: DontLetJimmyWin.com and spread the word!

(Below: The exclusive video of Fallon talking trash on Bobby!)

Exclusive - JIMMY FALLON talks smack on Bobby Miller! - 3 Days Left to Vote!

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:46:30 EDT

I'm so upset right now! I can't believe he would say such MEAN things. =(

Get people out to vote for "The Best Short Films In The World" For "Best Variety Show" in the 2009 Webby Awards.

Just go to: PV.WebbyAwards.com

You have till April 30th, 11:59PM EST.

Also, check out: DontLetJimmyWin.com and spread the word!

Submit your "Defeat Jimmy" campaign posters at the forums!

Help IndyMogul.com take down Jimmy Fallon! - 5 Days Left!

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:56:38 EDT

Wake up the neighbors!

Call your dogs!

Call your cats!

Get people out to vote for "The Best Short Films In The World" For "Best Variety Show" in the 2009 Webby Awards.

Just go to: PV.WebbyAwards.com

Also, check out: DontLetJimmyWin.com and spread the word!

Submit your "Defeat Jimmy" campaign posters at the forums!

Wesley's Weekly post-poned...

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:19:26 EDT

This week I am waistdeep in a big project, so I unfortunately don't have enough time to dedicate to an effect this week... BUT, Next week I promise to try make it up to all of you, with a special that I think many of you will find quite educational. So sorry again, and I will see you next week here on the blog. But don't be disheartened, instead of providing you with nothing this week, here is a video from Moguler Videopia dissecting the history of 24P and talking about the "film look", I thought it was interesting and worth a watch for those trying to catch the "film look" in their own movies.

The 24p Conspiracy from Videopia on Vimeo.

Massify & Killer Films Looking for Short Film Concepts

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:18:43 EDT

Massify and Killer Want You!

Massify and Killer Films (Boys Don't Cry, Kids, Far From Heaven ) have joined forces to create a provocative and humorous short film developed entirely through the Massify production network. At the forefront of independent cinema, Killer is looking for an outsider's story, the kind you don't normally hear about. But this project really belongs to you, because you're going to make it happen - from the concept, through production, cast, crew, and post - everything will be done by members of the Massify community. And before production begins, we need to find someone to take the reins. So if you're a filmmaker with a great story, pitch your concept now.

View the Entire Films from Episode 29 - Existential Earth Day Crisis

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:36:23 EDT

GREEN TO BLUE
by Elizabeth Klein
Email the Filmmaker.
View her website.

Wake up, Freak Out, -Then Get a Grip
by Leo Murray
Email the Filmmaker.
View his website.

To View "Learn to Fly"
Go to: http://www.vimeo.com/1808522
Password: IndyMogul

Learn to Fly
by Christian Letruria
Email the Filmmaker.
Visit his website.

Best Short Films vs. Jimmy Fallon - We need your help!

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:35:55 EDT

As of this writing, Best Short Films is trailing "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" by 4% at the Webby People's Voice Awards. The fact that we’re even this close to a…real…show is a testament to how amazing and dedicated the indymogul.com audience is. You guys ROCK! But, we still aren't there yet! Be sure to register and get out the vote! We have till April 30th!

Go to PV.WebbyAwards.com, register, and vote!
Click on “Film&Video” and find Best Variety Show. Then vote for “Best Short Films in the World!”

See my handy (?) video here too

Want to contribute your own Best Short Films/Webby/Fallon mashup like the poster I did above? Go to the forums here and post yours!

Vote Now! Indy Mogul Nominated for Two Webby Awards!

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:04:51 EDT

The 2009 Webby Awards were recently announced and Indy Mogul has been nominated in two categories!

Indy Mogul's Backyard FX is nominated in the How-To and DIY category.

Best Short Films in the World is nominated for Best Variety Show.

Vote Now! We need you Indy Mogulers! Only your votes can help Indy Mogul win the People's Voice Award in both categories by voting HERE. Voting is only open from April 14-30, so don't wait! Once you've registered, Indy Mogul's nominations are listed under the "Online Film & Video" section in the How-To / DIY category and the Variety category!

Vote for Indy Mogul at: http://pv.webbyawards.com/

Exploring New Animation Techniques

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:22:15 EDT

Animator and director Dan Meth discusses the collaboration between himself and Mixel Pixel band member, Rob Corradetti, for the music video "Monster Manual". Dan breaks from his traditional methods of animation to explore what would happen if he didn't plan out his drawings and just worked spontaneously. Sometimes just shooting something without thinking about it too much creates a unique style. The director and the band meld animation with the nostalgic childhood role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.

Come back Thursday for the music video premiere of Mixel Pixel's "Monster Manual".

Dan Meth: http://www.danmeth.com
Mixel Pixel: http://www.myspace.com/mixelpixel
Dungeons & Dragons: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=...

"Choose your own Adventure" on SUNDAY PREVIEW #9

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 23:20:18 EDT

Action! Adventure! Danger! All these adjectives (and more!) combine this week when a Hollywood film writer (who happens to be a pigeon) stops by on SUNDAY PREVIEW #9 to cast our hero, Pigeon, on a dangerous task.

This is also a "choose your own adventure cartoon"! This week's episode ends in a cliffhanger that YOU get to help resolve! In the comments, post what you would like to happen, or what you want Pigeon to do, in Part 2. One lucky winner will not only win a FREE DVD, but get to see their idea come to life next week in epic-ly crude animation!

WestHavenBrook's: The Danger Element Day 3

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 01:21:00 EDT

Here is the third day of shooting, for WestHavenBrook's new project. Check it out to see some great behind-the-scenes footage, and see some of the hard work that they are doing.

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Radio Earpiece

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 23:58:35 EDT

A common costume piece in Police shows, or anything featuring any kind of Special Agents is the Radio Earpiece. You guys have requested it, so I thought I would show you how to make one of these props easily and cheaply.

I started with a strip of White Doorbell wire, and a foam earplug.

Foam is obviously hard to puncture because it gives so much, so get a needle (it's easier to pierce it with a needle), and poke a few holes in it, and wiggle it around to make a slightly larger hole for the wire. The push the wire in about a quarter of an inch (you don't want to actually put the wire in your ear, just in the tip of the plug.)

Then I wrapped it in tight circles around a paintbrush handle. You can use a pencil, but I like how the tiny curls look in the wire, so I used the paintbrush.

Now it's just a matter of fitting the plug in your ear, and molding the wire to the shape of your ear.

Then, on the end of the wire, I attached a paper clamp. To keep it from bouncing out of your jacket or shirt during your film, just clip it to the inside of your clothes, and it'll keep the wire from falling off of you while you walk, and keep it in place if you take the plug out of your ear.

And there you have it, really cheap and easy to make your actors look more like special agents in your films. Hope this helps.

The Simpsons Video Contest

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EDT

Do you love The Simpsons? Would you like to win a trip to LA for The Simpsons Fall Launch Party?

The Simpsons is celebrating their 20th season and are giving you a chance to be a part of it. You've seen the opening credits hundreds of times, now re-create their classic couch gag with your friends and family. Submit your clip by May 18th.

See all the rules and prize details here!

View the Entire Films from Episode 28- BackYard FX Strikes Back

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:51:15 EDT

A Special Tax-Preparation Tip From The Old Man in 3-C Who Everyone Steals Their Wi-Fi From
Director(s): Daniel Kibblesmith (Director, Producer); Hassan S. Ali (Producer)
Writer(s): Daniel Kibblesmith
Link to Full-Length Version
Email the Filmmaker
View his website

Tax Tips: From The Old Man Who Everyone Steals Their Wi-Fi From from Tame The Bear on Vimeo.

Armistice
Director(s): Brad Bruening, Jr.
Writer(s): Brad Bruening, Jr. & Ryan Connolly
Link to Full-Length Version
Email the Filmmaker
View his website

"Armistice" Short Film from GRAYSTREET PRODUCTIONS on Vimeo.

Beware of the Taxman
Director(s): Rajesh Bhavnani
Writer(s): Rajesh Bhavnani
Link to Full-Length Version
Email the Filmmaker
Visit his website

Beware of the Taxman Episoode 1 from Hey Homie Productions on Vimeo.

Shooting in a Time Crunch

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:38:20 EDT

On this shoot, director Kathleen Grace and her crew got access to a great space for free, but they only had a small window of time to shoot everything they needed. The director talks about how they prepared the dancers for the quick shoot and what tricks they used to make sure they got every shot.

Check back on Thursday to see how the Music Video turned out.

Crank 2 - Consumer Cameras in Professional Film

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:09:52 EDT

Since Erik got the opportunity to talk to Crank Writer/Director team Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, I thought it would be appropriate to post this behind-the-scenes video that i've seen around, that shows some of the techniques and equipment that they were using on this film. If you look closely you'll see that the cameras they are utilizing are consumer available cameras (In these shots Specifically, the HF10 and the XHA1), largely without any kind of add-on's that many will generally prescribe when they want you to achieve a more professional "film-look", such as 35mm Adapters, or Matte Boxes.

I find this really interesting, because while many films have been shot totally digitally in the past (many at least partially on Consumer-level gear), this is going to be the biggest release so far, that has been shot COMPLETELY with consumer-level equipment. So really, I think almost none of us have excuses anymore in regards to our technological limitations. Videocameras have only been getting better and better, and Neveldine and Taylor have proven with their latest film that these cameras are more than good enough to stand on their own on the big screen. So I definitely am going to be checking it out this Friday, and I am looking forward to seeing a film that was shot on cameras that most of us here use for our own projects, and see what they can accomplish on a Hollywood production.

I think that this is going to be a big deal, and hopefully open up a lot of peoples eyes, and shake them out of the complacency of feeling like they can't shoot something that "looks like a movie" with their own camera at home. We all live in a very exciting time for digital cinematography, with "Slumdog Millionaire" recently winning Best Cinematography AND Best Picture, while being shot digitally (I believe the first film shot digitally to win both), and more and more films utilizing digital cameras, with audiences largely unaware of it not being shot on 35mm film... There is simply a bright future ahead of us, in regards to the flexibility that shooting digitally is going to offer us in comparison to traditional mediums.

Am I going to predict films death? No, not at all, film is still going to be around for a long time, BUT we definitely live in a time of a great shift, and the acceptance of films shot digitally is opening the doors up to more and more people.

Crank 2 PROVES that it's not the camera that makes the film, it's the STORY, it's making a film that people WANT to see. So I am saying, get inspired and make a great story, and stop worrying about your camera, because that time is over.

So I want to hear what you guys think... Do you think film is going to die? What new doors does this open? What pro's and con's do you see in regards to cheaper cameras becoming better and better? Leave some comments below and let me hear your thoughts.

Win $10,000 for College with a Video Contest

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Think you or someone you know deserves $10,000 for college? Upromise is giving away 10k for each winning video in the following three categories:

1. Saving For College

2. In College Now

3. Paying it Back

All you have to do is record 30-seconds of yourself describing why you need that cash. Be convincing, funny, dramatic, whatever you need to do to win the prize! Hurry up though because entries need to be received by 12pm EST on May 3rd. Open only to US Residents 18 or older.

Even if you don't enter, there are prizes to be won just by voting on your favorite video during the Final Voting Phase (May 12 - May 20).

Visit Contest Here!

Erik's Production Blog, 4.14.09

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:31:36 EDT

Erik's Production Blog 4.14.09 from Indy Mogul on Vimeo.

Q & Erik LIVE (April Edition)

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:35:33 EDT

If you missed this month's Q & Erik LIVE (April Edition), catch the rerun on Vimeo right now! On the first THURSDAY of every month, Erik Beck and his panel of indy film making experts answer YOUR phone calls and questions.

Drink out of Bobby's Mug...if you dare?

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 08:20:07 EDT

My good pal, Jeaux designed one of the tea cups in last week's show. If you'd like to purchase it, check out this site. His artwork is amazing and you can see a better detailed drawing of it there as well. Also check out his main page here. If you like tea, I don't know of a better mug to tea it up in, folks.

Ira Glass on Storytelling Pt. 3

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:35:15 EDT

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Retro UFO

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:05:47 EDT

It's been a long time since we last covered the intricacies of space vehicles here on Indy Mogul, but you guys still wanted more. We've gotten lots of requests for a Classic 50's Style UFO, and thought I would show you how to make one really easily.

The great thing about a retro-style UFO is that it has a very simple shape, the saucer shape is pretty much one of the easiest to replicate by using paper plates or pie pans just stamped together. For this build I got a couple of thick paper plates...

Then just painted them with a few layers of silver craft paint. If you want just a basic shape like this, then you can stop now, glue them together, and just string them up, but i'd like to go a little further and get some little lights for the craft.

Instead of doing some custom wiring (that'd take a bit longer), I got this 8 dollar module at Hobby Lobby a few months ago. It is just 10 LED's attached to a box and a battery. You hit the button on the box and the lights turn on, hit it twice and they blink, three times, and they alternate blinking. So you get some neat blinking options, and you don't have to worry about wiring them all up manually.

I started by making a hole for the lights with a pencil, then using a stick I marked off the opposite side, and made another hole.

Then did that 6 more times.

Then I just pushed the lights out of the holes, and taped them in place.

Then I taped the module in place.

Then, using a pin, I just made 4 holes in the top of the disk.

Then string fishing line through them. I used string for this, so it would be a bit more visible, but thin fishing wire would be stronger, and way less visible. Although, if you're going for a purposefully cheesy flying saucer, go ahead and use string.

How to close the disk presents an issue, because I would like something secure, but if I used Hot Glue or Epoxy, it would make the module harder to reach, and require me to poke a hole to hit the button everytime I want to turn it on or off. So instead, I went with these little clips, they are really strong, and if you don't want to poke holes into the disk, you can loop them through these things.

Finally, for the legs, I am going to use some Q-Tips.

Then just cut the cotton tips off of both ends, so I end up with four, hollow plastic tubes.

Then I pushed brass paper fasteners into the ends of them to act as little padded feet, and hot glued them in place.

Next, I poked holes into the bottom, and stuck the legs in. For the "extended" mode, just pull them out, and tape them into place. Then you can just remove the tape, and push them all the way in for the "retracted" mode.

Now, just put it on the end of a pole, and you can be making fake UFO sighting claims in no time.

SPECIAL GUEST on Sunday Preview #8

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:02:37 EDT

Ladies and Gentlemen, this Sunday (April 12th), Sunday Preview has a SPECIAL GUEST STAR so iconic, so legendary... that I can't say anything more about it. But we're talking CNN worthy stuff here. I'm already projecting 1 BILLION views on youtube. It is the cartoon event of the millenium....

You're just going to have to check out Indy Mogul's youtube page at NOON on Sunday. Don't say I didnt' warn you... Also you'll still be able to win a FREE DVD just by commenting! In the meantime, catch up on some old Sunday Preview episodes, and check out more hilarious cartoons.

View the Entire Films from Episode 27- The Tax Man

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:23:40 EDT

Tax Tips: From The Old Man Who Everyone Steals Their Wi-Fi From from Tame The Bear on Vimeo.

Armistice
Director(s): Brad Bruening, Jr.
Writer(s): Brad Bruening, Jr. & Ryan Connolly
Link to Full-Length Version
Email the Filmmaker
View his website

"Armistice" Short Film from GRAYSTREET PRODUCTIONS on Vimeo.

Beware of the Taxman
Director(s): Rajesh Bhavnani
Writer(s): Rajesh Bhavnani
Link to Full-Length Version
Email the Filmmaker
Visit his website

Beware of the Taxman Episoode 1 from Hey Homie Productions on Vimeo.

Bobby's "TUB" Production Journal # 3 - "No Time for Blogs, Dr. Jones"

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:46:02 EDT

Me & Daisy (Art Director) looking at naughty photos

Hello IndyMogulers,

As some of you know I’m making a short film called “TUB”. It’s my last short film for Columbia University’s graduate film program. And may just be my last short film before moving into features. I’ve been trying to make the thing for several years now, but every time I got close to doing it, something happened. You can learn more at: TubMovie.com. You can also join our facebook group here

What's TUB about, exactly?
It's just your typical film about a guy who can't commit to his girlfriend...
Who then jerks off in the shower.
And accidentally impregnates his tub.
It shoots April 17-20

Read Bobby's "TUB" Production Journal # 1 (3/20/09) here
Read Bobby's "TUB" Production Journal # 2 (3/27/09) here

4/9/09

Well, to the massive amounts of people following along. (That's right, all 2.5 of you!) I wanted to give you one last status update on TUB. It's been a little while since the last update and I'm realizing that I don't have time any more to keep up with this.

I woke up this past Monday morning and realized that from here till April 21st, my life is pretty much 24-7 TUB. And the idea of keeping a comprehensive log just isn't going to happen. I'm also waking up at like 7 am every day...just instinctually...as if my body is saying: "You need every single minute right now to make this thing."
That's right: This sh*t just got real!

Anyways: I'll give you the highlights of the last two weeks:

* Me and Daisy looked at adult escort ads in the Village Voice (that I've been saving up for months). It was one of the more...interesting art dept. meetings. At one point, we both surfed the internet for pornography. (She made a post about the experience..."Just another day at the office.") You can see me trying to explain what the "right ad" should be in the above photo.

* Went through the entire script, BEAT by BEAT with Eric Levy, our lead actor. Met up with Megan Raye Manzi and did the same thing. Have to rewrite some stuff. I find this is natural in the filmmaking process. After running through beat by beat with the actors, you always find revisions need to be made.

* Had Eric and Megan meet up and did wardrobe stuff. I also had them take photos of themselves as if they were a couple. We're probably going to use a few of those photos as set dressing in the apartment they live in.

In Happier Times

* They are really cute together (I mean, CMON FOLKS). They also had some time to just kinda hang out and get to know each other, which I think is important before you shoot something.

* Had a big crew meeting last night. I'm sad to say it was the most people I've ever had in my new apartment at once...UNTIL THE IMPENDING CRAZY TUB AFTERMATH PARTY of course. Felt really good to see everyone and put faces to names. We have an AD: Andrew Jones and some other new people coming aboard. Last night finally made this whole thigng real, as we are locking schedules and talking logistics. Daisy & Matt (our DP) had a lot of stuff to talk about as well as our set builder, Justin. (Did I mention we're building an entire bathroom set?)
Long story short, by the end of the thing, I was very giddy. Because we were finally getting to talk creative stuff and not producery-logistical stuff.

* Also: I updated the main site: TubMovie.com. It has a bit more updated crew list...we still have to add a few people to various departments, but you'll get a sense of how big a crew this is shaping up to be.

* There are other things I'm no doubt missing. This has been a mad, mad, week and we're still trying to lock a location. Pre-production always gives me anxiety, but I think once we start shooting, it's going to be absolute bliss. We have such a talented, nice group of people on board. And if I can be cheesy for a second, it was hard not to get a little emotional thanking them last night for being a part of this.

3 years in the making.

I'll see you all on the other side,
Bobby

ThreadBanger Friends on CBS News Tonight!

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:27:40 EDT

Our friends Rob Czar and Corinne Leigh over at ThreadBanger will be on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric TONIGHT at 6:30pm EST! You might remember these two from our BigFoot Costume episode or the SteamPunk Build.

CBS visited ThreadBanger a few weeks ago for a segment on DIY Fashion and the piece will be airing on channel's the nationally syndicated evening news. If you're near a TV tonight be sure to tune in to CBS at 6:30pm EST to check out some fellow DIYers.

Congratulations to Rob and Corinne from all of us at Indy Mogul. DIY or DIE!

Shooting Scenes in Reverse

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:43:10 EDT

Director Kathleen Grace partnered with the band Lowry to create a music video inspired by a Jeff Wall photograph and time fluctuations in story telling. The director had the band play the song in reverse so when the shots are played forward, it creates a unique 'anti-gravity' look. It's the small and no-cost ideas like this one that allow any filmmaker to create intriguing and high-quality work with no budget.

Check out 99DollarMusicVideos.com on Thursday to see the premiere of the Lowry music video.

Interview: Dr. Phineas Waldolf Steel, Mad Scientist

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:34:05 EDT

This week I am proud to present to you the interview I conducted with none other, than the good Doctor... Phineas Waldolf Steel. For the yet to be initiated, Dr. Steel may not ring any bells.. But for everyone else, he is the mad multitalent behind World Domination Toys, and the possible future King of the World. Musician, Inventor, Artist, Filmmaker, Actor, Supervillain (?), he is definitely a man of many talents, and I am happy to get the chance to talk to him today.

Wesley: First, tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do, for the readers that may not be familiar with Dr. Steel.

Dr. Steel: Ah, well I'm insane. I'm completely out of my mind, and as such I envision a world where the top priority of the people is to have fun. To this end I work to spread my propaganda, encouraging the masses to join my Army of Toy Soldiers so that together we might build a Utopian Playland; a sort of world "make-over" if you will. My main agenda is that of embracing one's creative passions as the true purpose in life and making the world a better place through ingenuity, imagination. And robots.

W: Many artists (and inventors for that matter) have a point in their life, that really sets them on the path towards deciding what they truly want to do with their life. Was there a time in your life when you had an epiphany about really wanting to do what you're doing now, and if so, what was it?

Dr. S: Yes indeed! There was a very specific time in my life when I underwent a sort of psychological and spiritual breakdown. This was a result of a series of impactful events, all leading to the inevitable options of continuing to repeat the past or to move ahead into a new field of existence. I experienced a sort of vision, if you will, an epiphany that allowed me to see the world in a different way. From this moment on I began to see myself as a canvas for my own work. A blank slate on which I continually paint.

W: How long does it usually take you to complete one of your Propaganda broadcasts, and what kind of work goes into each one? And how does the work that goes into one of your PSA's or Music Videos differ from the work that goes into making the Dr. Steel Show?

Oh goodness, this is a difficult question to answer. Each project differs a great deal due to the limited resources I have at my disposal. The conceptualizing of each project is rather brief, and I must admit, the most enjoyable of the process. The planning, pre-production, scheduling and general organization of a project certainly demands an entirely different section of the brain. I am rather good at organization, though I find it less enjoyable than compulsory. The physical production of a project is often bitter-sweet since I am personally responsible for all aspects. This is something that I am currently working to overcome, by utilizing what I have created thus far to present to potential investors. It is time to obtain the resources that I truly need in order to expand into greater fields. Producing an entire web series should certainly not be done by one person alone. I look forward to the possibilities of the future, seeing the expansive scope of my vision blossom, as well as being able to allocate specific tasks to others who can perform their work far better than I could ever do individually, as I am doing at the moment.

W: Being a multitalent, how do you balance all of your different creative impulses? Your music is definitely what you're known best for, so how do you do all of your different ideas justice when you've got so many?

Dr. S: I am truly obsessed with the creative process. I believe that creativity is the closest thing to a purpose in life, and I seek only to manifest inspired visions. Unfortunately, we live in a world where that desire is often considered trivial. There are many obstacles that one must overcome in order to find themselves in a position to be constantly creative. So, the balance of creating and building a foundation on which will support my future creativity is a challenging one. I have continued to create a wide variety of work in order to present the world with my vision. This serves two purposes, the first of which allows me to exercise my imagination in the creative process and the second being that of creating prototypes for future endeavors. By no means do I consider my current work, in any medium, to be my final product. Be it music, artwork, moving pictures, interactive media, toys, or any one of the many designs I have displayed, each one is intended to be improved upon and fully realized once the appropriate resources have been obtained. I am delighted to know that so many people have enjoyed these prototypes thus far, and I certainly do look forward to the creations of the future as they expand further into a much greater state of completion.

W: Much of your work has a certain aesthetic to it. Many have mentioned your work in regards to Steampunk influenced bands like Abney Park (and for that matter the Steampunk "style" in general). How would you classify your work, and why do you think you're attracted to the certain aesthetic and style you've developed?

Dr. S: I try to steer clear of any labels as much as possible. Once you build a box around yourself, you're trapped inside of it. I'm not interested in classifying myself. I have been in the fortunate position to receive a great deal of positive input from a tremendously wide variety of people. Classifications are for the marketing department, and I understand that is a game that needs to be played in the early stages, but I honestly seek to present my work to as many people as possible. Through that work, I would hope that my message of empowerment through play helps to ignite the personal talents inside a great many people, thus encouraging others to do the same.

W: You've worked very hard (or simply have been very efficient at taking out your competition) to get where you are, can you talk about your background, where you came from, and do you have any advice for fellow artists on what they could get themselves out there?

Dr. S: Dedication is of the utmost importance. There is a saying that talent is no substitute for hard work, and there certainly is truth in this. However, one must truly identify their sincere passions before embarking on this job. If your journey is going to be rocky, you had better be certain that what you're doing is worth the effort. My road continues to be a very rocky one, but I do this so that I may build a strong platform on which to build my empire of creativity. 'Tis the most important thing in my book, so I continue to move ahead in the ways that I feel are the most powerful. One must look at the events of the past as educational experiences, and not dwell in them but move ahead. To this end I seek only to continually evolve and look towards the future.

W: Your shows are full of fantastic props and creations of yours. Can you talk a little about how you created them, and if you have a creation that you're particularly fond of?

Dr. S: Thank you for the kind words. Indeed, nearly everything you see in my world has been custom built for the sole purpose of populating my continually growing universe. There are too many techniques to list here, many of them being the result of trial and error. I am far from being the authority on any one medium as I simply dabble and experiment in order to manifest a particular vision. As for a particular favorite creation, I cannot list even one. I only desire to create something far superior each step of the way.

W: So what can people stay tuned to the Dr. Steel message, and keep up with what you're working on next?

Dr. S: There are several places on this wonderful internet that serve as doorways into my world. The first being www.doctorsteel.com , a virtual tour of my island as well as information about my universe. Secondly, www.worlddominationtoys.com holds a great variety of prototype toys and clothing to be perused and voted on by the visitor. There are videos available on www.youtube.com/doctorsteel and for those of the MySpace persuasion; you can befriend me on www.myspace.com/drsteel . My brilliant Army of Toy Soldiers have joined forces to create www.toysoldiersunite.com , a one stop shop for propaganda, creativity and fun.

Much more madness shall be unleashed on the masses in the future, so keep your eyes peeled and your computers on-line.

Thank you very much! It was great talking to you, and I can't wait to see what's coming up for you in the future. Now enjoy this wonderful PSA that Dr. Steel made on the topic of Creating, hopefully you'll find it inspiring.

Sunday Preview #7

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:23:17 EDT

Yo, yo! This week is an extra special, extra hilarious Sunday Preview featuring the voice talents of Erik Beck. No time to explain, though, you're just going to have to head over to Indy Mogul's youtube page and check it out. Immediately. Get your silly Sunday morning cartoon fix with everyone's favorite Pigeon mini-web-show host. In fact, he's probably the ONLY pigeon mini-web-show host. So by default he's your favorite. I guess that's what makes him so "special." Also you can win a FREE DVD just by subscribing and commenting on the episode. Like, WOAH!

Ira Glass on Storytelling Pt. 2

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:07:30 EDT

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Cheap Prop Pistol

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:55:16 EDT

One of the most requested prop builds we've ever gotten here at Indy Mogul is the call for cheap prop guns. While we've covered various squib effects, and a few gun props in the past, we've never really covered a straight-forward "regular" gun. While your best option is of course getting a good Airsoft replica, or spray painting a realistic looking squirt gun - these aren't always the best option. You see if you need a close-up on your protagonists' weapon, an Airsoft replica is perfect, but if you need to arm a group of thugs with guns, it can quickly balloon your budget unnecessarily. You see for background guns, you don't need them to look realistic, at least not from up close. So I decided to show you how to make this quick and dirty prop for your action films, so your bad guys don't look as low budget as your film is.

I really like starting with high density foam for this, because it's easy to carve for this, and you can get about 4 guns from a single block. (It's also quicker to make a gun from it than cardboard, which you can also do, utilizing the same basic technique.)

First, get a marker, and draw the outline of where you're going to cut, using a ruler. Remember to find some photos to use as reference if you want to carve a specific model of pistol. There are two main components to make each pistol; first a longer straight block for the barrel and firing mechanism, then a shorter block with an edged top for the grip and trigger.

Now, get a thin bladed knife, and cut along the lines.

Stick a wooden dowel into the gun as support, and then...

Stick them together.

Then, I cover up the seam with some clay and smooth it out.

Now, I cut some corners off of a cardboard packaging box I had laying around, and pushed them into the top of the foam for the iron sights. (After sticking the marker I used to outline it into where the barrel would be to make the hole.)

I think bent a bobby pin, and shoved it into the foam as a triggerguard.

After cutting out a section for the ejector port, I painted the entire body with a layer of silver acrylic paint as a coat of primer.

Then I paint everything other than the ejector port black, and then let it dry. After that I start layering urethane varnish and more black paint in alternate layers to give it a metalic shiny look.

There you go, just let it dry, and you have a very cheap, basic prop pistol for your film.

Want to Watch Indy Mogul on Your TiVo?

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:00:00 EDT

Did you know you can watch Indy mogul on Tivo? Here's some info about YouTube on Tivo and step-by-step instructions on how to watch Indy Mogul episodes using your TiVo.

Our videos look even better on a big screen, so try it out and let us know what you think!

View the Entire Films from Episode 26- Phone Home

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:01:43 EDT

JAGG OFF
by Todd Strauss-Schulson
Email the Filmmaker.
View his website.

KNOCK KNOCK
Directed by Jack Ferry
Written by Jake Fleisher
Email the Filmmaker.
View his website.

PHIL SPECTOR - THE MISTAKE
by Jake Strunk
Email the Filmmaker.
Visit his website.

Scripy Frenzy! 30 Days. 100 Pages.

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:29:51 EDT

I came across this, and thought it would be an ideal excuse for some of you burgeoning screenwriters out there to sharpen your chops and tackle a project. Organized by the Office of Letters and Light (the organizers of NaNoWriMo every November), Script Frenzy is a on-line challenge for you to write a 100 page script over the next month. They have some fantastic writer resources for those who need some guidance on how to get started, and even a seperate program for Younger Writers. So check it out and get to writing!

The Old Man and the Seymour

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:33:13 EDT

The Old Man and the Seymour Trailer - "Forever Young" from The Old Man and the Seymour on Vimeo.

You guy's probably remember back last year, when Erik was ON LOCATION on the film "The Old Man and the Seymour" for the Extreme Nosebleed effect. Well it recently got released on-line, and you can go over to "The Old Man and the Seymour" Vimeo page and watch the full film for free. Check it out, and see the Nosebleed effect in action!

Synopsis: A 47-year-old, growth hormone deficient man (Amir Blumenfeld) gets mistaken for a new kid at his nephew's (Streeter Seidell) high school, where he quickly becomes the most popular student.

Featuring Shawn Harrison (Family Matters), Liz Cackowski (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), and Jordan Carlos (Colbert Report).

Written and directed by Jonathan Grimm and Giancarlo Fiorentini.

Official site: theoldmanandtheseymour.com

Using Split-Screen Creatively

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:21:27 EDT

What can you do with a split screen? Director Sherng-Lee Huang takes on this question with the band Frances and the music video concept for "Cold Water." With a budget of only $99, the director relied on this simple technique to come up with a creative video concept for the song. The shoot came in under budget, but they spent $70 renting a camera dolly when they could have built their own Backyard FX version for less than $50!

The music video of for Frances' "Cold Water" premieres on 99dollarmusicvideos.com and YouTube this Thursday. Be sure to check back and see how the concept turned out!

Talkin' Economic Blues (Sunday Preview #6)

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 16:14:42 EDT

The failing economy isn't only affecting humans. It's impacting pigeons as well. And this week our fine feathered friend, Pigeon, host of Sunday Preview, is mad as hell, and taking matters into his own hands!

Despite the recession, he's still got enough dough to give away a DVD every week to one lucky subscriber who comments on his weekly question (And we're not talking Deep Blue Sea or Leprachaun: In Space... no, no. We're giving away a generous GIFT CERTIFICATE, so YOU can pick your own DVD).

So if you haven't checked out the Indy Mogul Youtube exclusive mini-show, "Sunday Preview," then go check it out NOW! You'll either win a prize, or laugh your butt off, or both. It's win/win.

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Cursed Idol

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:00:00 EDT

In the past we've covered a lot of items of questionable safety (in the supernatural sense) , so I thought I would go ahead and help you live out another archeological adventure with your own Cursed Idol prop that you won't have to break into an ancient tomb and steal. (Not to mention the advantage of no boulders chasing you whenever you pick it up.)

First, I started with a bucket of my handy dandy air-drying clay, and a block of floral foam.

The foam is going to be the base of my "Idol", and I just want to carve it up a little to make it look a little more interesting, so I start cutting these vertical lines into the base. You can do a grid pattern, or carve swirls or whatever strikes your fancy, but I like how this looks so I am going to go with it.

Get a firm brush, and brush the lines to smooth them out and make them look cleaner.

Next, I carved some "alien" looking symbols into the foam around the top...

Then also hit them with the brush to clean them up.

Now for the figure on the block... I get a wad of clay that I break it up into two specific sections, the body, and the head. For the body I am making a basic cone shape. I don't want it too tall and skinny, or it will bend as it dries and not be able to support the head. Then the head which is just kind of general oval shape.

I want it to be very stable on the base, so I get a wooden dowel and just push it into the foam...

I got another piece of the dowel and dug a hole into the bottom of the "body" while the clay is still dry.

I push it down on the dowel, then wet the sides to blend it into the base.

Then I stick the head on, and blend it to the body, making sure it's very stable all around.

Next, I start to add details with the blunt end of a paint brush and a wet Q-tip, I draw eyes onto the face, and form rudimentary arms and legs out of additional pieces of clay. Then flatten out a few more and add them on the back as "wings".

Next I took some tiny pieces of clay, and rolled them out into strands, then attached them onto the face as "tentacles".

For your own creature you could do anything you want, and you don't have to follow my design at all, but i'm a Lovecraft nerd so it's pretty obvious why I picked this design. Any kind of simple design will do, very simple work could even be beneficial for a build like this since the simpler it is the older it can look, so don't doubt your sculting skills here. I have terrible sculpting abilities and I put this together in about half an hour, so trust me when I say I know all you guys and gals out there can do better.

The next step is the painting.... BUT since I am working with clay, I have to wait for it to dry before I can do additional detail work and start painting it...

EDIT: 03-30-09 - So Monday is here, and the clay has now reach the "bone dry" level. Something that you can do if you're using clay like me, is to poke some tiny holes into the thickest part, this lets air get to the deep parts more easily, and drastically speeds up drying times, especially if you're making a thicker figure like I did.

I started the painting by taking black paint and tracing into every crevice and hard to reach place with a tiny brush.

I then start with a base-layer of dark green paint (because I want it to look a little like jade, or very old copper).

I then take additional clay and smear it around on the statue. I do this, because the next layer will absorb into the statue unevenly, helping to further the illusion of a kind of marbled texture to it.

I then mixed up some silver paint and a little green paint and went over the entire statue.

I then took some black indian ink and painted the entire statue with it with a wide brush.

Then took a tissue and rubbed it off of the easiest to reach places, helping darken the little crevices and pits on the statue to help make it look a bit aged.

And there you go, next I just coated the entire statue in a layer of urethane to seal it and make it hard and shiny looking to help make it look like it's made out of polished stone or metal.

Erik Beck and Indy Mogul Win a Streamy Award for BFX!

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:22:01 EDT

Congratulations to Erik Beck for winning a Streamy Award last night for "Best Visual Effects in a Web Series"! Erik won the award for his show Backyard FX and it's Indy Mogul's first Streamy win! The Official Streamy Award ceremony will take place this Saturday and will be broadcast live online March 28, 2009 at 7:30pm (Pacific Time). Head to www.streamys.org to watch!

You can say congrats to Erik in the comments below!

Here's Erik with his award:

Bobby's "TUB" Production Journal # 2 - "Finding Emily"

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:24:51 EDT

Art by Cheryl Gross.

Hello IndyMogulers,

Read Bobby's "TUB" Production Journal # 1(3/20/09) here

3/20/09

This afternoon, our awesome Art Director Daisy did some reasearch on what the bathroom set might look like and compiled it all into one neato document. In the evening, I met up with Matt Sanchez, the Director of Photography on TUB. We looked over Daisy's photos and decided on a look and color scheme for the bathroom. We also talked about how we want to light this thing and we both want to shoot it with very naturalistic lightning. Score!

Ended the night watching Cronenberg's "The Fly". Matt never saw it. I wasn't sure if he was into it and asked him what he thought when the credits rolled. He said he really liked it and felt like he might cry at the end. I'm really glad he had that reaction. I think that movie accomplishes so many different tones: Romance, Horror, Comedy, Drama. Definitely a touchstone for "TUB".

3/21/09
Auditions all day. Kim Jackson, our producer and Meghan Mahoney, our UPM set it all up with help from Amy Gossels Casting. Eric Levy, our lead actor, showed up like 30 minutes late...Poor girls had to wait in the hallway. First auditioner didn't read the full script. I handed it to her as we waited for Eric and said, "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."

3/22/09
Finally started storyboards for TUB. All this time was spent getting crew people in place, etc.. Realized that storyboarding 15 odd pages is too much to do in one sitting. Will have to continue tomorrow...

We saw a lot of talented actresses yesterday. Narrowed it down to 4 gals. This is going to be tough.

3/23/09

Decided on our actress! Megan Raye Manzi will play Emily.

There was a moment in Megan's performance that really broke my heart. I remember telling the crew that after she left. I videotaped all of the auditions and usually when you play something back on video, it's not the same. But, there it was. Totally breaking my heart again.

She also has great big expressive eyes, which is great for the role of Emily. She doesn't have a lot of screen time, so it's essential that the audience is endeared and sympathetic toward her character instantly. Nice big sympathetic eyes = a nice way of doing this.

Megan was very nice on the phone when I told her she got the part. We're going to try and meet up this weekend.

There are a few things that need to happen in my book in regards to our two leads:

* Meet up with Megan and talk about her character in full
* Meet up with Eric and talk about his character in full (BEAT BY BEAT BREAKDOWN)
* Have Megan and Eric meet up and get to know each other. Take photos of them as if they were in a real relationship. Might use these photos in the film as set dressing.
* REHEARSALS.

3/24/09

Me & Daisy went up to Columbia's campus to check out the studio space that we're building the bathroom set in. Had to measure it for our set builder and all that. We also did some location scouting, but ultimately were a bit bummed because we couldn't find much of anything.

We're still looking for:
A NYC Apartment
NYC Office / Break Room / Restroom

Started back up on the ol' storyboards. Always a fun and interesting time because it's the first time I really "see" the film. And as always, I find, that I have to rewrite some stuff and add things. Rewrites to come...

ABOVE: These storyboards/notes are pretty much unreadable to anyone other than myself.

3/25/09
Me and my producer, Kim Jackson, met up with Maureen Ryan. She's the head of the producing program at Columbia University's graduate film program. She's in charge of going through your script & budget and making sure you do everything by the book.

That includes filling out lots of forms, insurance stuf, and blah blah blah stuff I don't like typing about.

Maureen was really really keen on the script. I didn't expect that at all. I mean, she just co-produced that classy picture "Man On A Wire!. But, she said TUB was "f*cking funny" and "one of her favorite projects". Regardless, it was very nice to hear. And for now on I'll just reread what she said whenever I need an ego boost.

3/26/09
Traveled to Philadelphia to meet our DP, Matt Sanchez. Felt it was EXTREMELY important to go through this film shot by shot. So, I showed him my scribbled storyboards and we talked and talked. Drew more pictures, wrote stuff down. Definitely have to do another rewrite.

Really excited by the shooting style. Lots of hand held, mixed with some more stylized stuff, mixed with a sense of minimalism. Fun times. Did I just sound too art school just then? Ewwww, sorry.

PARTING SHOTS
Locations. Locations. Locations. We need to lock them down soon. Also need to get this bathroom set in full gear and figure out a few more art dept things. We're also going to probably need some extras.

I need to rewrite parts of the script and then do a shot list and cleaned up shot by shot storyboard of the whole damn movie. My storyboards are way too crude to show to a crew. Tons of work to do still. Shoot date is looming.

Did I mention I still have to make The Best Short Films In The World show every week?
And I have a feature length script due as my thesis on April 15th in order to graduate?

Oh, Hi.

Mythbusters' Adam Savage on Obsessions and Dedication

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:30:08 EDT

I found this a truly interesting talk that Mythbusters' Adam Savage gave for FORA.tv. All of us being pretty big Mythbuster fans around here, I thought this was a great talk, and offers us all a glimpse in the kind of obsession and dedication that goes into a creative process.

While this doesn't teach you anything technical (not really at least), just looking at the steps he goes through and his obsession in regards to detail and precision is truly something inspiring, and something that we could all learn something from.

View the Entire Films from Episode 25- Fast & Furious

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:30:33 EDT

KING OF THE ROAD
by Christopher Holmes
Written by Brian Simpson
Email the Filmmaker.
View his website.

DEAD TIRED
by George Horne
Email the Filmmaker.
View their website.

WHEREVER YOU GO, THAT'S WHERE YOU'LL BE
Written by: Marilea Isernia, Louis Lazaris
Directed by: Kyle Griffith, Marilea Isernia, Louis Lazaris
Email the Filmmakers.
Visit their website.

First Trailer for Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are"

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:44:44 EDT

After a long wait, the first trailer for Spike Jonze's adaptation of the beloved children's book, "Where the Wild Things Are" has debuted. It was premiered on the Ellen Show, but thanks to TrailerAddict for posting. Spike Jonze has always been an inventive filmmaker and we're really excited to see what the film will be like.

What do you think?

Conceptualize, Shoot, and Edit in 24 hours?

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:32:03 EDT

For this episode of $99 Music Video, Director James Spruill teams up with the band Franklin for Short to create a music video concept for the song "Fast & Soft." James and the band relied solely on their low-budget filmmaking skills and DIY creativity to create the entire video for less than $99 within 24 hours. The video concept was inspired by the band's unique rehearsal space and features a peformance by the band.

Check out $99 Music Videos on Thursday for the music video premiere of Franklin for Short's "Fast & Soft."

Bonus Footage of Dreamworks Hollywood FX on Channel Frederator

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:15:06 EDT

If you enjoyed Erik's behind-the-scenes look at DreamWorks Studios, there's extra bonus footage over on Channel Frederator, an awesome online animation network. It's "Cartoon Central on the Internet."

Erik created a special report for the the animation network with a ton of bonus footage from the DreamWorks tour and the film, "Monsters Vs. Aliens." There's more with DreamWorks' Head of Layout and more on the miniature models used in making the film. Check it out on ChannelFrederator.com or on their YouTube Page.

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Bullet Removal

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:44:15 EDT

Although one of the first effects that Erik covered was the gunshot effect all the way back from Episode 5. I realized that we'd never covered how to make a close-up bullet wound that you could show on camera. So I thought I would not only cover this, but how to make it look like you're removing a bullet from the wound too.

Start out with the area where you want to make the wound. I am using my arm simply because it's the easiest part of my body to make a photo of, but the same techniques i'm going to use are applicable practically anywhere on your body.

I layed down a thin layer of cream make-up to assist in blending later on.

I just layed down an oval of liquid latex, let it dry, then layed down another layer. You want it kind of thick because of what you're going to be doing later in the application.

Poke a hole in the center, and start teasing it up, similar to my Burn Make-up effect I did last year. But take some cotton (or bits of toliet paper) and stuff them in around the edges to make it all bulge out.

Now, mix up some flesh colored make-up and start blending it in, to make the wound totally flesh colored.

Now, around the edges of the wound, start building up darker colors, like purples, reds, browns, and blacks. See the earlier Bruises and Beat-up effects Episode that Erik did for a more indepth tutorial on how to make realistic skin damage.

After you're done blending and you're happy with how it looks, darken the inside of wound with some black and dark red make-up.

Now, just add some fake blood, and the illusion is just about complete. Now for the bullet..

All I did was take a little piece of clay, shape it into a vague bullet shape...

Then I just slapped it with my hand, to get it to accordian down into a wad that looks kind of like a squashed slug after it's hit something.

Now, I just took some brass paint and painted the slug.

Now, just take the slug, and shove it underneath the lip of the wound, and cover with more fake blood.

And you can just reach in with some tweezers and pull it out from the wound.

If you're willing to do some life-casting, you could stuff the bullet even deeper into a fake body part, and with some clever editing back and forth make it look VERY realistic.

Awesome Fan Art of Stevie-6 and Cyborg Girl

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:31:49 EDT

Thanks to Robert Shum for sending us this great illustration featuring Indy Mogul's Stevie-6 and the Cyborg Girl from our latest Backyard FX test film. Indy Mogul has the most talented fans and it's amazing what we receieve in our inbox from our viewers. You can check out Robert Shum's other illustration work at http://shumworld.deviantart.com/gallery/. Thanks, Robert for sending this in. It will be hanging in Erik's workshop!

Bobby's "TUB" Production Journal # 1 - "A Long Time Coming"

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 09:48:14 EDT

Hello IndyMogulers,

As some of you know I’m making a short film called “TUB”. It’s my last short film for Columbia University’s graduate film program. And may just be my last short film before moving into features. I’ve been trying to make the thing for several years now, but every time I got close to doing it, something happened. IE. Funding didn’t come through, we didn’t have enough resources, etc. I’ll spare you the whole story. But, a lot of it can be learned at: TubMovie.com. You can also join our facebook group here.

What's TUB about, exactly?
It's just your typical film about a guy who can't commit to his girlfriend...
Who then jerks off in the shower.
And accidentally impregnates his tub.

Duh!

Anyways, I had mentioned that I would start doing production blogs on the making of “TUB” way back in January. So, here’s my first stab at it. If you guys like this sort of thing and want me to do regular updates, let me know! I'm going to try and approach this as honestly and as nut-and-bolts as possible. Because I know you indymogulers enjoy that sort of thing.

We shoot April 17-20

3/15/09
Cheryl Gross is our concept artist for TUB. She's the person responsible for designing what this mutated TUB baby will look like. I had first seen her work on Lee Rubenstein's excellent site: EatSleepDraw.com. She's an awesome person and I knew instantly upon meeting her that she got this movie. I later found out that she teaches illustration at Pratt. And just happened to have taught Lee, who just so happens to be doing some website design work for TUB. It's all in the family!

Anyways, today me and Cheryl met with Jeremy Selenfriend of MonsterInMyCloset.com. Jeremy is the man responsible for bringing Cheryl's concept art to life. (Ie. Jeremy is our puppet builder). I had been looking for the perfect FX person for several weeks to do this and I'm glad I found Jeremy. His work speaks for itself and he was able to work with our limited budget. Which was very nice of him.

Above: The door to Jeremy's awesome FX studio in Jersey.

The meeting went great, I had went through the script with a red pen and marked out each Baby/FX moment and we talked about what combination of puppetry would work for each scene. One of the things I'm REALLY geeked out about is that not only is the baby going to be a silicon puppet, but we're also going to have a larger, slightly mechanical baby head for closeup work. With eyes that blink mechanically! Wowie Kazowie and I excited about that!

Anyways, Cheryl had drawn up several more angles of the Baby design I liked and handed them off to Jeremy to do the sculpt. We all shook hands and headed home. I never thought I'd see the day. The baby for Tub is being made as we speak.

Below: Jeremy and Cheryl ham it up with two Baby Dolls. The one to the right is something I bought at Walmart just to show FX people how big the puppet should be. The little foam pink guy is something Jeremy rigged up to show us the height he's thinking about.

3/16/09
I'm stressed out. We're over budget. I'm maxed out on all my student loans. I need a couple thousand dollars. Sadly texted my friend Matt about it. He told me:
"Tub's gonna be amazing dude. It's your time. So just do it. Don't think. Just do. Keep your chin up. It's just money. What you're making is worth more than money."
Matt's a good guy.

3/17/09
Talked with my financial aid dept at school. Apparently, I can take out one more loan. Trying not to think of the massive debt I'm incurring as per Matt's advice.
I'm definitely betting the farm on "TUB". Despite it being low budget by film school standards (especially something this FX driven), I've never ever had a budget or a crew like this before. I've never had a producer like Kim Jackson before. Geez, I think we're making a real movie here.

3/18/09
Every Wednesday, me, Kim, Meghan Mahoney (our Unit Production Manager) and Daisy Edwards (Art Director) meet up and discuss pre-production issues.
This week: The bathroom set. The majority of the film takes place in a bathroom and because we want full control over how we shoot (for puppetry reasons and camera reasons) we're actually building an entire bathroom set on a stage at Columbia University.

Intense.

Found a great guy to do the job. Justin Mulcahy. Me and Daisy met with him last week and he was really game for the project and loved the script. One of the unfortunate things about this project is that we can't pay people what they're worth. Justin, like everyone else on this production, was okay with taking a cut in the pay rate because of the...well, uniqueness of this project. (I hope?!)

Anyways, we're scheduling another wave of auditions for the Girlfriend in the film (Emily) this Saturday. Eric Levy, our lead actor, will be there to read with them. Last time we held auditions it went really well. It was the first time I ever heard anyone speak a line of dialogue from Tub and it all seemed to work! It went so well that I decided to rewrite part of the script to include a little bit more of the girlfriend character. There's a pivotal scene at the end of the film with her and I wanted to make sure we earned it.

Amy Gossels, a mutual friend of Kim and I is helping us out this Saturday. She's a casting director and is hooking us up with some actresses. Auditions are going to be fun.

3/20/09
I'm about to meet up with Daisy at the library at 42nd street. We're going to go through a bunch of architecture books and figure out what we want our lead character's apartment to look like. As well as the bathroom etc. We both agreed that going on the internet and google imaging photos of apartments and bathrooms felt really lame and that it'd be a lot more exciting to do it the old fashion way and sit with some books and hammer it out. The architecture reading room looks pretty cool:

Tonight, I meet up with legendary director of photography (in my mind) Matt Sanchez. I think the guy's the best kept secret in Hollywood, folks. I'm glad he's on my side. He told me earlier this week that he's been watching a lot of Cronenberg. That got me very excited. There's definitely a bit of Cronenberg in TUB (As a side note, I think Cronenberg is one of the most underrated filmmakers of all time and should be held in the same esteem as the greats.)

He told me I should rent: A Zed & Two Noughts. I started watching it the other day, but passed out because I haven't had much sleep lately. The opening credits/music is absolutely stunning and I can see why Matt likes this so much. Hopefully, I'll get to finish the rest today. Anyways, I'm going to meet up with Matt tonight to talk TUB stuff. Then, tomorrow is long day of auditions with Eric. Sunday? I'm not sure what I'm doing. I'm sure it will involve TUB.

Parting Shots
As stressful as some of this is, I feel really good about TUB. I feel like everyone I'm working with is ready to take things to the next level. This film combines elements of horror, comedy, and drama that I've never done before. It's going to be challenging, but I feel poised. With film school graduation looming in May, I can't help but feel like my whole life has led me to this very moment.

It's been a long time coming.
Time to knock it out of the park.

Above: A snapshot of a TUB folder on my desktop. The first draft was written on 10-23-06. I remember getting the germ of the idea back in the summer of '06.

View the Entire Films from Episode 24- SuperHeroes Special Part 2

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:16:32 EDT

THE MIGHTY MEAT
by Landon Ramirez
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View his website.

THE AVIATRIX
by Toddy Burton
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MR. AMAZING RETURNS
by Michael Connor, Sam Dawes, Terry Marriott, Leigh Davis, Nick Marshall
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Ethan's Indy Mogul Promo

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:41:24 EDT

Ethan sent in a clip for our promo campaign we're running - I added the hands and the effects, and it looks great! Check it out, and look at the blog post below to find out how to send in your own.

Help make promos for Indy Mogul!

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:14:47 EDT

Hey mogulers! I come to you with an exciting request ... send in 10 seconds of footage and a voice over, and get on the show. Check out this video for more details ...

Get your footage on Indy Mogul! from Indy Mogul on Vimeo.

Whoa! Girls, Guns, and Writer's Block!

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:39:56 EDT

I think you guys will dig this short film Michael (of early BFX fame) and I made for the latest Film Fight. Check it out and vote!

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Fake Medicine

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:09:43 EDT

So need to film a scene with a sick or dying character, but don't have a ton of empty pill bottles to fill up their bedside to make it look realistic? Well don't fret this week i'm going to cover how to make candy and mints look more like medicine for your films.

For the pills themselves, i'm going to start out with some breath mints I got at my local grocery store.

Just by themselves you cans ee that they can look a little like medicine all by themselves, but they also look a little boring and unrealistic.

In many pills there is a notch in the center of the pill so it's easier to break in half, since most of these are really soft, just take a butter knife and scratch a line down the center. This isn't really an important detail to add if they are just going to be in a bottle, but if you wanted to show a close-up in someones palm or in a table, you might want to consider it.

To color them, I just took a bottle cap, filled it with food coloring, then just "painted" the candy and mints with the food coloring. You can use any color, but I just happened to have green laying around so I used it.

Now for the bottle. Most of us probably don't have dozens of bottles of REAL medicine bottles (or at least I hope most of us are healthier than that) so you're going to want to find some that look right. While it would be an obvious choice to get real over-the-counter bottles like for Vitamins, each bottle can cost upwards of 5 dollars, so it can get rather expensive quickly. This bottle on the otherhand is a toothpick bottle, it was a little over a dollar, and it looks nice and thin like most of the medicine bottles I think about when I think of medicine. (Also you get a bunch of toothpicks, which are always useful.)

While it can look alright without being colored, it'll be kind of unrealistic looking, so you'll want to color it orange or green (like most prescription medicine bottles i've ever seen.) To color it, just get a little acrylic paint, and dilute it with a clear acrylic based paint. Try to go 10 drops of clear to 1 drop of colored paint to get a nice transparent mixture, and then just paint the bottle. If it starts trying to bead up on the surface, just keep on smearing it back and forth gently while you get a friend to hit it with a hair dryer, it'll eventually start to get sticky, and you'll be able to add a second layer without a problem.

Now and finally... the label, I know many of you Mogulers out there would also like your bottles to have actual labels...

So, here is a fake label you can slap onto your bottle to finish the effect, and really sell that it's medicine. Obviouslly you'll have to edit this label if you want to show a close-up and you need it to be something specific, but for bottles just laying on a table, this should be fine.

Good luck!

Making a Music Video for Under $99!

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:39:26 EDT

Wanna know how to make an awesome music video for cheap? See how these guys use smart and innovative filmmaking techniques to do just that!

Director Jack Ferry explains how he used rotoscoping, Jeffrey Lewis' live illustration, a camera, and a calculator to achieve the look for the music video "To Be Objectified". Find out how he could combine these elements to create a music video without spending more than $99.

You can see how the final Music Video turn out HERE.

View the Entire Films from Episode 23- SuperHeroes Special Part 1

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:54:02 EDT

SUPERHERO
Directed by SOMI
Written by Brian Simpson
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View his website.

SUPER POWERS
Directed by Jeremy Kipp Walker & J. Anderson Mitchell
Written by J. Anderson Mitchell
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View their website.

HOW TO BE A SUPERHERO
Written/Directed by Aqeel Ahmed
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Visit his website.

WestHavenBrook's: The Danger Element Day 2 Pt. 2

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:50:33 EDT

Here is the new part of the second day of shooting, for WestHavenBrook's new project. Check it out to see some great behind-the-scenes footage, and see some of the hard work that can go into a larger project.

Cheetos Boredom Buster - The Works of David Seger

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:59:24 EDT

Well, folks this is the final Cheetos Boredom Buster on the Indy Mogul Blog, so I'm gonna lay a real treat on you: The Works of David Seger. Whoa, what? The works of David Seger? Aren't I Dave Seger? Isn't that a little bit cheap? Not if you value having your boredom busted, bucko! Here I am, writing all these blogs trying to point you towards entertainment and joy when all I have to do is stick my thumb backwards at my head to point to the guy who busts my boredom the most: Me. Here's the real lesson, class: the ultimate way to bust that boredom is to get creative. Make some art. Doodle a picture. Write a short story. Record a Facebook wall video. Build a chair. Rename the categories to your AIM buddy list. Play around. Have fun. The best way to wash away boredom is to stay active and discover something about yourself.

Making videos has been a big part of my life. A source of experimentation and happiness. Here are some highlights from my video catalog:

Irrational Fears
A short one to start, Irrational Fears is one of my favorite videos. It's about a minute long, was easy and fun to shoot, and I got to play around in the desert. Sometimes the video-making experience is as simple as getting an idea out of your system. I had this idea bouncing around for six months before I finally returned to Vasquez Rocks National Park and made sure to get it shot.

Barrel of Monkeys
I honed my craft working on shows for my college cable station. This Barrel of Monkeys video was produced for an episode of a sketch comedy I was doing called A-OK Sketch Comedy in 2006. It was a lot of fun, and I've always appreciated how this video turned out. The experiment of compositing our faces on toys was totally new to me.

Campus Fun Now - Episode #2
Campus Fun Now is another experiment from my college TV days. I love creating a narrative, and usually tell stories, so when a friend of mine asked me to create a non-fiction segment for his TV show about causing fun around on campus, I was excited to figure out how to make it interesting. Tom and Mr. Drew were some great hosts, and it ended up being one of my favorite things I created as an student.

My Inanimate Object Video - Dove Burnfish
It's all about challenging yourself to do new things and setting deadlines. This video is called the "Inanimate Object Video" because that was the challenge my friends and I posed to each other for our weekly "Movie Night." We were going to watch Batteries Not Included, so we told everyone to make a movie where "an inanimate object helps out the hero." That's what happens here. I combined my own desire to make a musical in the same style as Flight of the Conchords with the criteria to have an inanimate object help out. Check out the Movie Night site for more weird challenges and executions.

But that's it -- I mean, I have more to show you, but you can dig for it. I have a blog, I have a Vimeo page. I like entertaining people, so I hope you were entertained these past few weeks during the Cheetos Boredom Buster. Six little portals of entertainment. Keep your eye on places like Indy Mogul and you're bound to find more things to bust your boredom online. Come on, it's the internet! Thanks everybody.

Ira Glass on Storytelling Pt. 1

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:50:59 EDT

Tomorrow on The Best Short Films In The World...

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:32:43 EDT

From Visionary Mediocre Director, Bobby Miller comes...THE BEST SHORT FILMS IN THE WORLD. Episode # 23. Based on the acclaimed Graphic Novel.

Video contest to get on the set of a TV show

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:04:05 EDT

Here's a neat video contest you all might be interested in. You can submit an audition tape and get a walk-on role on the show "Breaking Bad." No idea if the show sucks or not, but heck, winning some money and getting a taste of Hollywood? Certainly worth a shot! Find the best actor you know and make them sign a blood oath to take you along with them when they get the big prize. It's that easy! Read more about it here ...

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Fake Brick

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:23:23 EST

While we've shown you how to make plenty of smashable accessories, something that you guys keep on requesting are how to make fake bricks that can be thrown without actually smashing someone's head in, so here you go, fake bricks.

First, start out with a brick of floral foam, you can find them already the appropriate size, BUT if you can't, you should still be able to find larger blocks, and the material is so soft that you can cut it with a spoon, so just cut it to the right shape you need.

I got this drill bit out of my drill kit, and I used it as a texturing tool. You don't have to have the exact same thing (you could just as easily texture this with an old fork or a screw driver).

I just tapped the sharp end over and over against the brick just real lighting, leaving all sorts of tiny pits and scratches on the surface. (While they aren't that visible now, they will be once I start putting down paint, which will really show off the depth better.)

I then painted on a layer of grey primer paint to seal the foam.

I then started layering dark red paints on top of the primer paint.

I then rubbed some chalk on it to give it a dusty look, and that is it. After the paint has dried, you can use it however you want. It's light enough that you can throw it as hard as humanly possibly and it wouldn't be able to really hurt anyone, just add in a loud "thwack" noise, and you can really sell it being thrown or whatever else you need it for.

View the Entire Films from Episode 22- Seriously.

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:17:27 EST

AND IN THAT MOMENT, I FELT INFINITE
Directed by Karen Abad
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ALIVE IN JOBURG
Directed by Neill Blomkamp
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SNOW SOLIDERS
Directed by Geoff Howell
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BUFFLESHOEK TRUST - DUST DREAMS
Directed by Stephen Buchanan
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WestHavenBrook's: The Danger Element Day 2

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:20:45 EST

Here is Day 2 of the behind-the-scenes footage the WestHavenBrook has been shooting for their new project that is coming up. Check it out, and see some of the hard work that is going into their project (Not to mention cool driving). Also, while you're in the mood for WestHavenBrook stuff, check out the BFX episode where they show our own Erik Beck how to do a realistic kung-fu fight.

Cheetos Boredom Buster - The Works of Dan Harmon

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:56:44 EST

Man oh man, Indy Mogul audience, we're really lucky to have each other. I enjoy showcasing things I like from the internet, and you enjoy having your boredom busted. Let's work together once again. I'll show off some stuff I found that may bust your boredom, and you get your boredom busted and become a little more aware of Cheetos.

I figure last week's Cheetos Boredom Buster focusing on the works of Wade Randolph went pretty well. If success was gauged by blog comments, it scored a 2 out of a possible 3. That's a passing grade! So, I'm going to write a similar blog about another talented guy who makes things I appreciate. He's been interviewed for Indy Mogul a few times, and he created a little website called Channel 101. This week's Cheetos Boredom Buster is going to highlight his best work:

The Works of Dan Harmon

You would think a guy who created shows like VH-1's Acceptable.TV and Comedy Central's The Sarah Silverman Program would have moved on from making silly short videos with no budget, but oh no way. It was only after getting his start with the failed 1999 Fox pilot Heat Vision & Jack, that Dan Harmon started making amateur videos. He created Channel 101 with Rob Schrab in 2003, and ever since then he's been at the forefront of exercises in no-budget digital filmmaking.

Laser Fart #5
In Channel 101, creators are asked to come up with a series ripe for franchise. Your goal is to give the audience an episode, and keep them asking for more. One of the earlier shows at Channel 101 was Laser Fart, the story of a super hero who ate a burrito from a malfunctioning microwave and now he farts lasers.

I'm Not Racist
In 2006 Dan Harmon was writer, creator, and Executive Producer for a show for VH-1 called Acceptable.TV. Much like Channel 101, it was made up of tiny TV shows, and this parody of the reality genre came hilariously close to the real thing.

Joke Chasers
Another sketch from the short-lived Acceptable TV, Joke Chasers finds a Mythbusters team of investigators, searching for the location of a famous joke. Acceptable.TV had a lot of great sketches, including the eight-episode arc of Mr. Sprinkles.

The Most Extraordinary Space Investigations #4
It'd be ridiculous not to include another moment from Dan's Channel 101 catalog. Dan has created over twenty shorts for Channel 101. For awhile in 2005, Dan created a show called The Most Extraordinary Space Investigations with friends Justin Roiland, Sevan Najarian, and Sarah Silverman. The show was often shot in an afternoon of goofing around without a script. In this episode, the gang asked a stranger to join in the shoot, and this is what happened.

And those are just a few of my favorite Dan Harmon videos. He's made a bunch more. From his Channel 101 shorts, to his YouTube editing tests, to his professional work, he's been making stuff for awhile and my best guess is he won't be stopping anytime soon. Thanks for taking some time for the Cheetos Boredom Buster. Now go fly a kite if you're so bored!

Sunday Preview: EPISODE 2!

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:50:40 EST

Hey guys.. Jake here... have you checked out Indy Mogul's newest show?

It's a youtube exclusive show called SUNDAY PREVIEW! It's a cartoon starring a pigeon living in New York City. This week's episode was written and stars myself and my best pal, the one and only Steve Nelson, who stars as a down-on-his-luck cockroach, in need of a bite to eat.

Last week we gave away a free DVD (and got some laughs along the way). This week we'll do it again! So head over to youtube, watch the cartoon, comment, and you JUST MIGHT WIN! DON'T YOU WANNA WIN???

Love, Jake Strunk

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Fake Teeth

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:59:58 EST

I know that almost all of you have seen it at least once in an action movie fight, the hero pulls back and lays down a devasting blow to a bad guy, sending him reeling, and his teeth flying out of his mouth. Having a characters teeth knocked out during a fight or some accident is a great way to show a severe injury, and a lot of you guys have requested it so I thought I would try to cover this in a really simple way.

For the teeth themselves, there are lots of way to do it. But if you're going to be spitting them out, I think it would be a good idea to carve them out of something that is supposed to be in your mouth (rather than clay or something that you're not supposed to be eating). I found these oval shaped mints that are just about the perfect shape for most of the front teeth, so i'm going to use them, but really, as long as they are the general shape, it doesn't matter if they are perfectly shaped.

I cut one end off, to flatten it (I used a pocket knife for this, since it's kind of soft, another benefit of carving these out of breathmints, but as i've said in other tutorials, if you don't feel comfortable handling a sharp object, get someone to help you, or use a spoon).

I did it a couple of more times, just carving the general shape of the teeth.

Now how to do the effect. Put the fake teeth in your mouth, along with a gulp of fake blood (dyed corn syrup is ideal, but if it says "Non-Toxic" it'll be fine as long as you don't swallow and you washe your mouth out afterwards). Now follow the advice in the BFX Stunt Fight episode, on how to perform a fake punch. Do it the same way, except after the person being punched takes the "hit", have them twist their head away and spit out the fake blood and fake teeth. You don't have to have the teeth perfectly shaped, because generally they will move out of the frame so quickly that only that you're spitting out what looks like a tooth will be discernable by the viewer.

If you're going to show the teeth on the ground, it would be a good idea to carve a more accurate tooth. If you're just going to be showing it on the ground, you can use clay or plaster, since you can just put it in a puddle of fake blood, and it won't be in your mouth. So you can have a vaugely shaped mint for when you spit it out, and when you show it on the ground have a "more accurate" tooth for the close-up after it's out.

Afterwards, just use the bruise make-up and tooth black out from the BFX Injury Make-up Episode, and you've got yourself set.

View the Entire Films from Episode 21- Parenting

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:11:50 EST

CHECK PLEASE
Directed by Larry Ziegelman
Written by Larry Ziegelman, Doug Manley
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View his website.

UNLOCKED
CLICK HERE TO VIEW FILM
Directed by Daryl Wein
Written by Daryl Wein, Peter Duchan
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View his website.

DADDY WHY?
Directed by Dawn Boyd
Written by Michael Aronson
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SLEEPWALKER
Directed by Michael Randolph
Written by Jeff Vande Zande
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Cheetos Boredom Buster - The Works of Wade Randolph

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:59:01 EST

Hey Indy Mogul blog audience, I heard from a little bird that you don't like being bored. What I heard was that you were all like "Aww man I'm so bored. I wish I weren't bored!" Prepare to be un-bored-ifide, because it's time for another Cheetos Boredom Buster! The goal of the Cheetos Boredom Buster is to break up your work day, and offer you an opportunity to mess around for awhile -- before you go back to crunching numbers, or testing rollercoasters, or whatever lame way you collect a paycheck.

Last week I promised that I'd spend some time introducing you to (or reminding you of) some different web videos I enjoy. Maybe you've seen these videos before. You are checking out Indy Mogul, so I assume you're pretty tuned in to what's cool and what ain't. I wanted to write a whole blog about Waverly Films, because I adore all their videos, but then I realized every video they've made has about 100,000 views. It's not my job, to tell you things you already know. (But if you don't know Waverly Films, consider your boredom busted times ten and CLICK HERE).

So, to provide this service, I dug deeper into the videos I enjoy and came up with one dude who epitomizes the kind of funny free silly energy that's important to a Cheetos Boredom Buster:

The Works of Wade Randolph

The guy has been making videos for a few years, including the ComedyCentral.com original series Awesome Friends and the Channel 101 series Murder Town. Simple animations and weird videos shot in his apartment are the staples of his style. Often, his videos are shot, edited, and acted all by himself. He's made a lot of stuff, so here are a few highlights from the Wade Randolph catalog:

The Noticer is a fake promo for the SuperStation, about a guy who's stand-out skill is being really good at noticing things. If you like this, you might like the full five-minute show, in which The Noticer solves an entire crime from the comfort of his apartment. Showing off his ability to parody the awkward melodrama of your typical crime-solving basic cable show, The Noticer has always stood out to me as one of Wade's best videos.

In Future Book, Wade Randolph and comedian Eric Acosta play a couple jocks who are confronted by a book that can tell their future. Wade and Eric Acosta make a great team and have made a bunch of short TV shows together -- you can see them all at his YouTube page.

Halloween Song is a clip from Wade's Channel 101 show, Murder Town. This clip shows off a couple important parts of Wade's charm: silly songs and simple animations. In Murder Town, Wade shot an entire show in his apartment by himself, using animation to create the other characters. It's pretty fun, but the stand out element was always the songs. If you like this tune, check out his Sandwich Rap or his Julia Stiles song.

And the last Wade Randolph video I want to show off is this one: FWD: OMG!! THIS RLY WORKS!!!1 -- When Wade gets a Myspace Chain Letter his life quickly unravels.

I guess one of the reasons I like Wade's stuff is that a lot of it is shot in his apartment for no money. It's pretty inspiring to know I could do the same thing, just using the wigs and space around me. It's about goofing around with friends and making videos for fun. Hopefully you enjoyed this stuff and it busted up your boredom. If not, you know, there's always a whole bunch of online quizes you can take!

Cheers!

Interview with George Romero

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:06:18 EST

CLT Blog interviews George A. Romero from Erik Button on Vimeo.

Moguler and friend Erik Button (Apocalypse WOW! on the Indy Mogul forums) from CLTBlog.com, recently got a chance to sit down with Zombie Lord and Filmmaking Legend George A. Romero. Seeing as how much you guys love zombies (so much) out there, I thought you guys would like to see this great interview and hear some advice from someone whose been a filmmaker far longer than many of us have even been alive.

Call for Filmmaker Submissions - Terminator Salvation

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:37:16 EST

The Viral Campaign behind the new Terminator Movie is currently looking for Filmmakers to make fake commercials for the Skynet Research Corporation. They've got all sorts of music and sound effects you can use in the film, so check out the website and submit something. Some of the filmmakers who submit will have their work featured in the campaign, and maybe more. Good luck Mogulers.

Rockbottom Productions - Episode 2 - "Horror"

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:16:39 EST

Rockbottom Productions: "Horror Movie" from Neko Neko Films on Vimeo. As promised, the folks at Rockbottom Productions have followed through with their monthly web series in an epic hoRRor (make sure you roll that "R") flick. We are excited about the use of humor and production that make for a very original piece. We encourage you to give them feedback for their work. Could there be another great episode next month? Stay tuned for an update.

Indy Mogul on Twitter & Facebook

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:42:59 EST

Indy Mogul is so social! We've updated the Indy Mogul Facebook Fan Page and now we're on Twitter, too. Facebook and Twitter are just a couple new ways our viewers can get the latest updates from Indy Mogul, and for us to interact with the community even more.

What the heck is Twitter? Good question!

"Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length." Thanks Wikipedia.

Follow Indy Mogul on Twitter and you'll get up-to-the-minute updates, news, and show info. We'll be tweeting about the newest Indy Mogul episodes, production updates, special events, filmmaking tips and more! Erik, Bobby, and Grace will all be messaging to let you know what they're working on.

Our Twitter name is 'indymogul' and you can follow us at twitter.com/indymogul. If you're already on Twitter, find us and say hello! If you don't know what twitter is, check it out and sign up. It's FREE!

If you're on facebook, just search for 'Indy Mogul' and become a fan, leave a review, and join the discussions.

INDY MOGUL LAUNCHES NEW MINI-SHOW!! (a cartoon!)

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:37:35 EST

Hey everyone,

My name is Jake Strunk. I'm not sure we've met. How are you? I'm swell, thanks.

Enough small talk! INDY MOGUL has a new show called "Sunday Preview." It's a cartoon written, animated, and voiced by myself (with help from my friend Max Nelson) The show gives away prizes!!I It also previews the week to come in Indy Mogul, with advance clips from BFX and other various information about the week to come. Did I mention FREE PRIZES??? Oh, right I did. I could erase that but I won't.

But, enough about the FREE PRIZES, let's talk about the cartoon. It stars a North American carrier pigeon, living in Manhattan. He engages in various misadventures across the city, many involving his other critter friends. It's crude animation, but it's lovable (I think).

The show premieres THIS SUNDAY on INDY MOGUL'S YOUTUBE PAGE. So be sure to check it out and enjoy the show!

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Battle Axe

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 05:49:49 EST

In the past you all have requested a lot of Ancient weapons for your films, from Samurai Armor and Weapons, to Knight Swords,to Maces, but your thirst for ancient warfare has yet to be satiated, and the requests continue coming in. Maybe we'll decide to do a full Viking or Medieval special, but until then, here is a battle axe that could easily be modified for almost any kind of ancient battle scene you can think of.

I started out with a wooden dowel that is about 3 inches in diameter.

I then cut a V-Shaped notch in the end of the dowel with a hand saw, be careful if you aren't use to cutting. (You could also use a jigsaw or a dremel or something for this that could make it easier)

Now, put it on a piece of foam board (preferably black, white is going to take more paint, and I want to keep this as quick and simple as possible) and sketch out the shape of the blade you want. It can be a one-sided axe, or it can be a double sided axe, or as elaborate as you want it, so just think of what your film needs and sketch it. I am making a very basic kind of Viking-esque axe, so I want a kind of rough double-sided design.

Now, cut the foam out, and push it firmly into the notch. Then hot glue (or epoxy) it in place. THEN take your finger and compress the edges of the blade to make them appear a little sharper.

I then took some brown acrylic paint, and watered it down, and stained the handle with it (you might have to do this a few times, as it soaks into the wood and gets lighter as it dries.)

I then wrapped twine around the top, and hot glued it in place.

I then painted it a dark silver, so I can make it look a little like metal molding. (You could paint it brown or black, and try to make it look like leather fastening if you wanted)

I then painted the axe with layes of black and silver (adding some darker details to the center "molded" looking section). Add lighter metallic highlights along the edge of the blade to look like battle wear.

Now, add some darker "wear" streaks on the handle, and there you go, a basic battle axe that'll only cost you a few dollars.

Best Short Films Contest! Win a T-Shirt and be on the show!

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:31:28 EST

Introducing the first ever Best Short Films contest!
All you have to do is join our facebook fan page:
http://www.indymogul.com/3rc
Then, post a review! Keep it 1-2 paragraphs or so and make it entertaining!
I'll pick a winner in March and you'll get a free T Shirt and an appearance on the show!
We'll even plug your website, hey why not!

View the entire films from Episode 20 - Stop Motion Animation!

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:09:27 EST

FOOD FIGHT
by Stefan Nadelman
Email the Filmmaker.
View his website.

WATERMELON NIGHTS
By Dan Meth
Email the Filmmaker.
View his website.

AWARENESS
Directed by Jeroen Zijlstra
Email the Filmmaker.
Visit his website.

GREAT TASTING AMERICANO
by Peter Green, Thomas Hsieh, Gaurav Mehra, Leng Khun and Regan Music
Email the Filmmakers.
Visit their website.

Cheetos Boredom Buster - Fatal Farm Spotlight

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:05:37 EST

Let me be honest, I'm a HUGE fan of web video. So one of the top things I do to kill time is check out various interesting online videos. I dig through the backlogs of College Humor uploads, I scour YouTube, I make my rounds through the various Next New Networks online shows. I try to find those videos that really jump out at me. A good web video should inspire as much as entertain.

Somewhere buried amongst the weird teenage vidblogs and network TV mash-ups are some true creatives. These are auteurs. These are joyful artists. Over the next few Boredom Busters, I'm going to try to highlight some of my absolute favorites. Here's an old favorite always worth another watch, or perhaps newly discovered gem -- I take great pleasure in introducing this week's Cheetos Boredom Buster:

FATAL FARM

From their site's ABOUT page:
"Fatal Farm is these two guys, Zach and Jeffrey. They live in Los Angeles and do videos for the internet."

That's all the information they seem to be offering. Two old friends who pair their talents to make a slew of twisted and entertaining videos. They seem to make three kinds of videos, and I'm going to offer up the best example of each --

1.) Alternate Television Themes: Fatal Farm's most popular series of videos are these creatively edited versions of old television opening sequences. Take your childhood memories and run them through a blender, mixing in the darkest parts of your brain, and maybe you'll end up seeing something close to Fatal Farm's alternate versions of TV show openings.

(Alternate) Facts of Life TV Intro by Fatal Farm

For more, check out the Alternate TV Themes Home Page. Keep in mind, a good lot of these may not be entirely safe for work.

2.) Infinite Solutions with Mark Erickson: There's something to be said about a good internet stunt, and "Infinite Solutions with Mark Erickson" is one of the best. Fatal Farm created the Mark Erickson character and developed a series of self-help videos that are full of lies. That's correct, most of these tips are completely untrue. The joy of the videos comes in equal parts from how faithfully they spoof the genre and imagining anyone who's tried the video's "solutions."

How to Recharge Batteries - by infinitesolutions

With nearly 900,000 views, you have to imagine a good amount of these people have tried to recharge their batteries. No one should feel stupid for it. Fatal Farm is just that good. For the rest of the series, check out the Infinite Solutions website.

3.) Lasagna Cat: The most recent set of videos released by the Fatal Farm guys was a bizarre and hilarious Garfield tribute. Twenty-seven recreated Jim Davis comic strips, that end in some sort of interesting musical reinterpretation. It's the perfect demonstration of just how dynamic and different these guys are.

03/08/1997 - by lasagnacat

I think I watched every "Lasagna Cat" in one sitting. It left me inspired and excited to know videos could be so bizarre and still so entertaining. You can check them all out here: Lasagna Cat Home Page.

So, a bunch of kudos to the Fatal Farm guys for keeping internet video exciting. Hopefully they come out with some new videos soon, because they haven't released anything in quite awhile. I hope you enjoyed what I showed you today and your boredom was busted. For the Cheetos Boredom Buster, this is Dave Seger saying "Later Dudes!"

Wesley's Weekly Presents... Prop Security Camera

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:57:57 EST

I am a little busy this week with some stuff, so I thought this would be as good a time as any to give another one of you guys a chance to show off your tutorial here on the blog. Long time Moguler Speekerphone has contributed to YOUR FX a few times, but if you've joined Mogulville you'll no doubt know that he also does a weekly tutorial over on his YouTube page. So enjoy the video tutorial he put together and maybe toss a nice comment his way. I thought this was a nice creative build that I think you could combine wonderfully with Indy Mogul's own Camera Pod. Hope you guys enjoy it, have a good weekend.

WestHavenBrook's: The Danger Element Pt. 3

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:20:46 EST

Here is the fantastic new third segment of the behind-the-scenes footage that WestHavenBrook's been posting the last couple of weeks from their latest project, check it out, and make sure to check out the previous segments on their YouTube page.

View the entire films from Episode 19 - Valentine's Day

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:35:55 EST

NOTTE SENTO
Directed by Daniele Napolitano
Written by Stefano Gianfreda, Maurizio De Benedictis
Email the Filmmaker.
View their website.

PERFECTO!
Directed by H. Blake Edwards
Written by Erin Fede
Email the Filmmaker.
View their website.

LETTUCE BREAK BREAD
Directed by Tim Miller
Written by Tommy Huelsman
Email the Filmmakers.
Visit their website.

LOVE LETTER
Directed by Brandon Morris & Scott Helm
Email the Filmmaker.
Visit their website.

Cheetos Boredom Buster - Face The Future

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:33:26 EST

Why hello everybody, David Seger here, and I got some important truths to spit --

Truth #1: Being bored is boring.
Truth #2: There's so much fun stuff out there - there's no reason to ever be bored.
Truth #3: The Cheetos Boredom Buster aims to introduce you to fun things, and help you avoid the inconvenience of being bored.

Yes! You work hard. Too hard, maybe. And sometimes, your tedious efforts towards a paycheck can be pretty boring. But think about it, why be bored when you've got a whole internet full of silly tools designed specifically to devour your free time? Flash games, Wikipedia pages, Internet Surveys, Face Transformers, Online Poker... Wait, did I just say Face Transformers? I sure did. That sounds like this week's Cheetos Boredom Buster:

The "Face of the Future" Face Transformer!

The University of St. Andrews has set up an easy-to-use image manipulator, which takes the picture you submit, and alters it. Upload a clear image of your face, follow the simple steps, and you'll be able to find out what you'd look like as an old man, a member of the opposite sex, or even another race!

Here are the simple steps to get started:

And then you can change the face into several different options:

Old man, young man, baby, a member of the opposite sex, you can transform your face towards afro-carribean features, west-asian features, east -asian features. You can even transform your face into works by different artists! An El Greco version of yourself. A Botticelli! The possibilities are all there for you to play with. Would you make a good looking woman? Find out. How would your Manga cartoon look? Upload an image and discover just that. It's a real fun thing. You can even transform your face half-chimpanzee if that's what you're into.

But guess what, independent filmmakers, this tool could also have some practical application for your projects. Maybe you want to make a movie where a character is visiting his hometown after sometime away. He looks around his old living room and picks up a photo. It's himself as a child. There you go. Another useful trick is to make someone old. Want to end your movie with an explanation of what the character's future held in store? You can demonstrate with a transformed image of them, ages older.

But mostly, it's just a fun thing. Play around. Turn your friends into monkeys... and then get back to work. I'm here to bust your boredom, not get you fired. Have a good week!

This Thursday: Best Short Films VALENTINE'S DAY EXPLOSION!

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:58:34 EST

Jess Lanes returns to the Best Short Films In The World for a VALENTINE'S DAY SPECIAL! Tune in this Thursday, February 12th for what FakeNews.com is saying is, "the holiday event of the season."

Bobby's Recommended Film Books & Equipment

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 16:01:24 EST

The question I most often get asked is: What camera should I get OR what books should I buy?

To answer that, I created a site listing my top picks: BobbyFilms.com I made it through Amazon.com. They usually have the cheapest prices on EVERYTHING. In fact, I rarely even buy books or DVDS in stores these days.

So, save yourself the $100,000 worth of film school debt and just check out some of the books there. A lot of them were recommended to me through film school and stuff I just sorta picked up.

Of course, if I'm missing stuff let me know and I'll add em.

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Vertical Camera Rig

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:10:29 EST

One of the angles that i've had a surprising amount of trouble with (because it seems to deceptifully simple) is the stable overhead shot of someone that is laying down. It can be simple to get an overhead shot, but if you're having a character that is going to be shot on the ground for a while, it can be quite difficult to hold your tripod in that position for an extended period of time. So I thought I would try to figure out a rig that would allow me to do it myself.

I started with some PVC tube, because it's nice and light, and i'll be able to break it down and move the rig when I need to.

A tape measure would probable be helpful here. On one tube, mark at the 5ft line, so you're cutting it in half. THEN, on the other tube, mark out about a 6 foot tick mark, and with the remaining 4 feet, mark one at each foot. All together...

That is (2) Five-Foot long segments, (1) Six-Foot long segment, and (4) One-Foot long segments.

I then got 2 elbow joints, and 2 three pronged couplings...

Put the elbow joints onto both ends of the Six-Foot long segment.

Then put the five-foot long segments into the other ends, forming an open ended rectangle.

Now, take the tri-couplings and attach it them to the end of the five-foot long segments.

Then take the footlong segments, and stick them into both sides, and you can stand it up.

You'll the stand that I posted above, and you can easily put this on either side of your characters bed for example, and get a shot looking directly down at them. For this rig you can either just balance your tripod on the top rail, or you can put a 3/4 bolt through the PVC, and screw your camera directly too it, either one would work, but if you balance your tripod on it, it can allow you to kind of slide back and forth.

Hope some of you guys find this useful, see you next week!

WestHavenBrook's: The Danger Element Pt. 2

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:08:18 EST

More Behind-the-scenes footage, from our friends over at WestHavenBrook. Check it out!

HP Video Tips Contest

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:19:43 EST

I'm coming at you with another great video contest. If you know a thing or two about computers and could use a couple of new HP computers, check out the HP Video Tips Contest.

All you have to do is come up with an interesting and creative short video (up to 2 minutes) that shows a useful tip about computers. The topic can be something very basic like email or security to more advanced knowledge about servers or networking. It can be anything as long as it helps people in their day-to-day interactions with a computer.

Best of all? The top three videos win the following HP bundle:

1 x HP TouchSmart IQ800t series desktop PC
1 x HP Touchsmart tx2z series notebook PC
1 x HP iPAQ 310 Travel Companion

So Indy Mogulers, fire up your camera and computer and show HP what you've got! Submission deadline is March 30, 2009.

Click here for more information about this contest!

Q and Erik LIVE: January Edition

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:35:17 EST

Q and Erik LIVE: January Edition! from Indy Mogul on Vimeo.

ENJOY!!!!

View the entire films from Episode 18 - Friday the 13th Special

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 20:45:36 EST

You've seen the clips from the show here.
Now, watch the films in their entirety below!
Did you like a film? Hate it?! Discuss it below with other filmmakers and film fans!
Also: If you really like a film, please visit the filmmakers sites and email them and let them know!

KILLER SOUND
Written and Directed by Matt Thiesen
Email the Filmmaker.
Visit his website.

MONTGOMERY
Directed by Firat Parlak
Written by Firat Parlak and Erman Sinan
Email the Filmmaker.
Visit his website.

THE BABYSPLITTER
Written/Directed by Glenn Triggs
Email the Filmmaker.
Visit his website

THE BRIDE
Directed by Ana Almeida
Written by Jose Pedro Lopes
Email the Filmmaker
Visit his website.

Cheetos Boredom Buster - Xtra Normal Cartoons

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:35:34 EST

Hey gang, David Seger here, self-proclaimed Indy Mogul West Coast Correspondent. You may remember me from such Indy Mogul videos as Indy Mogul at the Film Independent Spirit Awards or playing Johnny Knifehands in Backyard FX: Fake Hand. But listen, this isn't about my history or love-affair with this site... it's about the now. For the next few weeks, I'm going to be offering up some ideas for blowing off steam. Filmmaking is hard work, especially without a budget - we owe it to ourselves to indulge in some silliness and distractions. It's how you stay sane.

So pause from your After-Effects rotoscoping, put down that chunk of ballistics gel you're painting to look like skin, or take a breather from your first feature screenplay... And allow me to introduce this week's Cheetos Boredom Buster!

XTRA NORMAL - Movies From Text

Xtra Normal is a free animated movie generator, and it's perfect for putting together something quick and ridiculous. Have you always wanted to make two CG characters talk about what's better, Swamp Thing or Man-Thing? Or you always wanted to create a movie where a cop and a clown agree to fight crime together? With a joyfully simple interface, you choose your characters and their world, and then start typing their dialog. Here's something I made, right now, before continuing with this blog. It only took about twenty minutes.

I call it -- "A Conversation with Erik Beck" --

You and I both know that it can take a long time to make a short film. Sometimes you have to spend months to get everything just right. Give yourself a break, and create something in an instant. They're fun, they're easy, and they'll bust your boredom. A helpful tip: Register before you start working on your movie, because you cannot publish your work until you're registered

Thanks. See ya next week, with another Cheetos Boredom Buster -- an excuse to take a break from the daily doldrums, and indulge in the important art of distraction. You deserve it.

Jason Voorhees VS. The Best Short Films In the World THIS THURSDAY!

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:07:13 EST

Fighting Freddy was rough...but nothing will prepare Jason for...some dude who doesn't get out much.

BE THERE! This THURSDAY! 2/5/09! For the fight of the...uh...hmmm...

fight of the...

....uhh...

DECADE!

Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Super-Cheap Shock Mount

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:10:29 EST

All of us want great sound in our films, but unfortunately not all of us can afford a professional boompole, much less boompole accesories. This is one such accesory. Shock Mounts go at the end of boompoles, suspending the mic (usually from elastic or rubber straps) in the center of a mount, keeping it isolated from vibrations from the boom grip. This allows you to move the boom around more, and pick up far less noise, which is ideal for any on-site Sound Recording. This is by no means a professional-mount, this is just a quick (very quick) and cheap (very cheap) accessory for your homemade boompoles, it may not be perfect, but for quick shoots where you need some cleaner sound, this could be helpful and won't strain your budget.

Start with a tin can. This was a can of chopped peaches, before I washed it out. I'm using a tin can, rather than something like a soda can, because tin offers the necessary strength and thickness to support the tension of the straps i'm going to install in it. BUT this also causes some issues with cutting it, so make sure you get help cutting this if you're worried about being able to do it on your own. (The edges are sharp so BE CAREFUL, and wear work gloves if possible).

Now, cut both ends off of it and wash it out.

Now, tag two points on one side of the can. Tag the same two points on the opposite side of the can. Then go to the halfway mark between the opposide points, and make two additional points, then mark points the opposite of THOSE points. So you should have 4 sets of points marked on your can, roughly equal distance apart.

Now, cut segments into the can. You want to cut like a square shape into each point, but with one side still attached, so you can...

Flip them up like this. So this to all sides of the can, where you marked the points. BE CAREFUL, like I said, the edges can be sharp, so maybe go ahead and cover them with little pieces of duct tape (just on the edges, keep the holes open.)

Now, take a rubber band, and string it across the holes. The way I did this is I would...

Hang the first end onto the flipped up part of the can, then I would grab the end of the rubber band sticking into the can, and I would pull it across and stick it out the other hole, where I would pull it out some more, and pull it up and over the tin segment like hanging it on a hook...

Like so.

Repeat on the other side of the can, so you have these plus-shaped arrangements of rubber bands stretched across both ends.

Now, just gently peel the rubber bands apart, and slide it inbetween them, and it'll be suspended without any direct contact to the edges of the can.

Now, it's a question of how to attach it to the end of your homemade boompole? That is an excellent question, which really depends on what path you want to follow. I got this little mic mount at my local music store for two dollars (More expensive than the cost of the shockmount, which I literally constructed out of stuff I found in a garbage can). You could easily put a bolt through this and attach it to your mount, and have an up and down adjustable shock mount, but if you're low on time, and budget...

I found that some simple duct tape will suffice. This is by no means professional, and it won't last forever, but if you need a quick shockmount for your project, and you're running out of time, this can save your butt, and will last at the very least a few hours while you record your sound. For a more permanent fixture, I would suggest attaching a solid strip of wood or plastic to the top of the mic mount, and bolting/epoxying it thoroughly in place, then bolting that to your shockmount. It'll be FAR more secure, and not look like crap that you built out of garbage, but it will cost you a few dollars more and take some extra time.

The Best Short Films in The World has competition?

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:07:45 EST

I have never been this flattered before in all my life.

View the entire films from Episode 17 - Sexual Dysfunction

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:06:04 EST

You've seen the clips from the show here.
Now, watch the films in their entirety below!
Did you like a film? Hate it?! Discuss it below with other filmmakers and film fans!
Also: If you really like a film, please visit the filmmakers sites and email them and let them know!

BIG P*SSY
Written/Directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson
Email the Filmmaker.
Visit his website.

MEASURING UP
Directed by Jesse Scaturro
Written by Yannis Papas
Email the Filmmaker.
Visit his website

I AM KOBE BRYANT
Directed by Bobby Olsen
Email the Filmmaker
Visit his website.

HARASSMENT
Written and Directed by Jonathon Rodd
Email the Filmmaker.
Visit his website.

Tomorrow on the Best Short Films: THE RETURN OF...?

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:12:52 EST

A certain somebody returns to the show tomorrow...in a very special episode of the Best Short Films in the world. Come to think of it, we have a ton of "very special episodes" coming your way. 2009 is going to be epic! Tune in tomorrow (Thursday) around lunch time to see who's back! And be sure to leave us comments on what you think!

WestHavenBrook's: The Danger Element

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:00:00 EST

Here is some new indepth behind-the-scenes footage from the project that our friends over at WestHavenBrook are working on. Thought you guys might like to see it since we've been keeping up with this since they first announced it.

Beyond the Trailer Oscar Contest

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST

All you Cinematic Edgar Cayce's out there get your thinking caps on, because Indy Mogul's own "Beyond the Trailer" wants to know your picks for the Oscars this year. Just choose from those films nominated (or if you feel like one has been overlooked send in a write-in vote), and submit it.

But it doesn't end there (or obviously it wouldn't be a contest), out of the submissions we will randomly draw one name, and that person will win a brand new Blu-Ray player! So check out the Beyond the Trailer page, cast your vote, and hope you win.

Hurry up though, deadline closes on Feb. 15th, so get your votes in before then!