Wow, I Won a Film Festival

I suppose it happens once in a while, you make a movie, you enter a film festival, and you get more votes than the other entries combined.

Wait, that doesn't happen often does it?
But it happened to me. On April 21 I managed to take the Viewer's Choice award at the Statesboro Film Festival and even got to make a little speech.

What was funny about it was being asked about how many Facebook followers I have.
The answer is none. I don't even have a Facebook account. Ditto for Myspace or Twitter.
And it's not like there's a mountain of followers on this blog either!

But I have something like 12 times the number of subscribers on YouTube that I had last year and thanks to the support from many of them, I reeled in a lot of votes.

I like to think the movie had something to do with that as well, and not to cast flowers on myself, I think it turned out pretty well.

Take a look:



It was a lot of fun to make, and I had the pleasure of working with three talented actors this time, which while not a first for me, was certainly a change from the norm.
Not to take anything away from anyone that's helped out before, but having people that can take direction and also repeat their scenes in near-flawless detail is an amazing time saver.

My good friend Ronnie Stringer (he's the hillbilly in the camo vest) pulled together the talent for me from his contacts at the local university.
If you've never considered the theatrical department at a college you're missing a good bet!

Anyway, I'll post some more info about making the movie and the awards night later on.

In the meantime, if you've got some red/cyan 3D glasses, take a look at the movie the way it was intended:

My Cat Tests Better than I Do

I may be giving up my life in front of the camera.

I put up a video of my cat on his birthday and his popularity has skyrocketed.

Fine.

Take it away Moe.

And Now...In 3D!!!

You can't go to the movies now without being hit in the face with the promise of 3D.

Hasn't happened to me because I haven't been in a couple of years so I've missed the 3D "revolution".

I think I was most disappointed however to learn that the recent round of 3D movies weren't focusing on making things fly out at the audience, in fact to suggest that sort of moviemaking is now considered gouche. No, to the modern 3D purist it's all about "depth".

They have to be kidding.
What the heck is the point of handing out headache-inducing glasses unless you're going to have the gratification of seeing explosions right over the audience's head?

It's beyond me.

But I have come up with a clever way for you to add 3D to your videos without a lot of expense or second camera.
That's right, for the first time something in 3D is being offered for no additional cost!

Unbelievable.

Well here you go, you too can make 3D with just one camera!



I hope Mr. Cameron doesn't get too upset when he learns he could have saved a few million by just shooting with a single T2i

Opossum, opossum, possum-O

Doesn't everyone love a good possum story?
Here's mine: Last night a possum (ok, an "opossum") was prowling around in the front yard so I followed him or her for a bit and the thing ran up a pear tree.

So naturally I got out a light and my T2i and made a brief video about my encounter with the beast.

We don't get bears around here, so this is what passes for nature.


Shot with a Canon 50mm f1.8 FD lens wide open.

Road Trip!

This doesn't really have anything to do with making movies, the Canon T2i, screenplay writing, or anything else. It was just a response to a video made by a friend in France when he took a trip to the local dump.

It wasn't until I shot this and began editing it that I realized just how darn far it is for me to take out the trash!



And you might as well see the inspiration from my friend that goes by the name "FlyingFisbeeFilms"



I highly recommend visiting his YouTube channel and checking out some of his remarkable music compositions.

We'll be back to more moviemaking style things next time!

Just What Time Does the Future Get Here Anyway?

Once in a while you have to take a spin on the cheesy side, and for the end of the year I made a short video of predictions for 2011, all the while playing the part of the Amazing Criswell.

Who is Criswell you ask? Really?
If you've ever seen that great classic movie "Plan 9 From Outer Space" then you'll know Criswell as that guy in the tux at the beginning that went on and on about the future.


Yeah, that guy.

Anyway, a good friend that goes by the name StonedCommander on YouTube put out a call for predictions in video form and I couldn't resist.
So take a few minutes and see the future, because it is in the future that we will all live our future lives...or something



Happy New Year to one and all!

Keep Shooting

If you watch my videos, you know I always punctuate each one with the phrase; "keep shooting".
If you plan on being a filmmaker, it's the only way to hone the craft.
I just finished a short, in fact very short, piece I planned to enter in the CanonFilmMaker's 30 second film festival.

Well it didn't work out like I intended, I managed only to get the thing down to 40 seconds, and I love to cut.

The idea was to make a parody of a movie released in the last 18 months, so I went after the king of them all, Cameron's Avatar.

Mind you, I haven't seen Avatar, and likely never will, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from poking fun at it and also to pay homage to one of my all time favorite characters; Edmund Blackadder.

So go ahead, spend 40 seconds, and enjoy "Blackadatar"