Bringing In a New Year

With a BANG! and a BANG!!

Anyway, even if nothing ever comes of this. I'm so thrilled that this footage finally gets to see the light of day. Everyone did such a great job. This is just a small example of the great things that we can achieve when given the right tools to work with. It bodes well for future endeavors.

We're going to begin fundraising efforts early next year (2009!) and so we hope that anyone who's a fan of what we're doing here will jump onboard and help try to make this dream a reality.

There are a couple more scenes coming, and these scenes are hopefully the first steps toward achieving great things in the coming year. 2009 is gonna be a big year for everyone here at Amateur Hour. And by everyone I mainly mean myself. It's my resolution to really kick it up a notch in 2009. Redoubling my efforts. Leaving nothing on the field. Insert your favorite euphemism here. But I have a good feeling about '09. So everyone stay tuned.

The Amateur Hour Website is officially up and running. Scenes from youtube will be making their way to the site shortly, and will be a general catch all for everything Amateur Hour. Whatever that exactly is.

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for 2009!

Gears In Motion

For the first time tonight, I saw something I wrote on film (not counting the viewing window of the camera while we were shooting). It was a great feeling to say the least. I've been at a point recently where I really needed a spark in my life to keep the gears in motion, and I definitely feel like I got just what I was seeking in that tonight.

Needless to say, we got the updates we needed for Final Cut, to see our beautiful footage, and beautiful is an understatement. Breathtaking perhaps? I was totally floored by Brian's editing skills. He really brought it together in a big way. By the time I got around to getting a look at it after we got our technical issues ironed out, he was already half done editing half the scenes. Hats off. The man's a genius. Or a savant to say the least.

And now that we have footage with which to work with, I'm also proud to report that Matt is also masterfully bringing the website along. Might have something we can show people post hence. Weeks of prolonged inaction punctuated by a flurry of happenings. Seems to be the order of things.

Here's to driving the wheels of progress forward. Gung ho!

Got Another Thing Coming

Not too much new to report, just seemed a crime to have gone two plus weeks without an update.

Editing on the footage we shot is still coming. We've had some trouble viewing the footage on the computers we plan on editing on. It looks like we just need a newer version of Final Cut Pro. It only costs $1600. Shouldn't be an issue. Ugh. Why must everything be so complicated. Now I can see why people go to Hollywood and sell their scripts so they don't have to deal with this stuff. One day. One day.

But in a bit of good news, we are now the proud owners of our own website! Nothing there at the moment, but in time it will host all of the scenes we shoot, and the trailers we make, and possibly even the home of this very blog. More to come I assure you.

More information as it becomes available. Shock out!

Weekend Wars

We wrapped up an amazing weekend last night at my apartment. I won't repeat the previous post's platitudes, other than to thank everyone who participated once again, and to thank Stephanie, who did an amazing job acting with us last night, it was great to have her along. Also once again thanks to Alicia who in addition to her great work behind the camera, also took some great pictures for us behind an entirely different camera, so thanks to her I can show everyone how it all went down.

I have a ton of pictures, and I'm in the process of putting them up here.

The Spotlight Falls...

On the big shooting weekend! After much buildup and anticipation we began filming Amateur Hour Today at 11:05 AM PST, October 25th, In the Year of Our Lord 2008.

Filming went really well today. We got some good pictures that I will post later on this week. Someone ran off with my camera at the end of the day. We started shooting in an alley behind The Little Red Studio off Denny Way in Seattle. Our first scene was Sean (Brian Sutherland) and Aven (Zach Mack) in their car, getting ready to pull a job. Luckily the gods of film and creativity were smiling on us today and provided us great weather to shoot in. Things went surprisingly smoothly. Endless thanks to Peter Feysa, our cinemetographer and his lovely assistant Alicia Boggs. They did a great job setting up all the equipments and getting some truly amazing shots. The actors could have been reciting the alphabet, and I think it would still be interesting to watch, thanks to some great shooting (and obviously some great acting, but that's still to come).

After we wrapped up in the alley (Did I mention I accidentally stepped in vomit?) we broke for lunch ("Hi, I'm Jonathan Shock, writer of Amateur Hour, and when I break for lunch the only thing that fills me up right and gets me going again is hot, tasty, Zeek's Pizza. It's Zeek-Tastic!") we headed back into it, actually ahead of schedule!

We met up down at the Wooden Boat Center, got permission to shoot, and got to work. The weather was absolutely breath taking and I think the shots that we got are really gonna jump off the screen. Brian and Zach both also rose to the occasion and really brought their A games. I really almost felt like I wasn't doing my job because I really barely had to give them any direction. They were both on cruise control. I couldn't be more pleased.

Beau really helped me out in the Assistant Director role, so thanks to him as well.  And also to his dad who fed us all and let us use his sexy ride as Aven's car.

I'll stop gushing but it really is an unspeakable blessing to have friends, many of whom are recent friends, who can all come together in a weekend, and accomplish something great, for no greater motivation than they believe in the work. And for that I thank each and every one who are helping to make this possible.

Anyway, now that we've all had our hug it out magical moment...

More good work to be done tomorrow. Luckily a much lighter day. Casting call is 3 p.m. We'll snatch a couple exteriors, do a quick scene at Outback tomorrow, then it's back to the apartment for the big Sam/Sean scene tomorrow night. If things go half as well as today, I'll say it was a near flawless weekend.

Today was definitely a full day. Less

Getting Down to the Nitty Gritty

Big Aven/Sean rehearsal last night. Went late. Got alot done. It's all really starting to come together. Still lots to do today before we start filming... TOMORROW! AAAAHHHH!!!

We actually might have found our Melony last night at an Italian Restaurant. Sounds like a Hollywood story if you've ever heard one, right? More to come on this as it develops.

I feel pretty good about where we're at though. Zach and Brian had a nice long rehearsal last night, and Brian and Stephanie had one on Wednesday. Everyone's really kicked it into another gear here and it's fun to see. I think this weekend should go pretty smooth, weather allowing. Come on Seattle sunshine, I know most people think you're a myth, but don't fail me now!

I didn't get a chance to take any pictures last night but I grabbed a couple pictures of Brian and Stephanie's rehearsal on Wednesday. Or, if you wanna go one better, you can watch what the scene is gonna look like, we also filmed it and Brian cut it together. It is still a rehearsal so it's rough, but I think it looks great. Check it out.

Amateur Hour - Rehearsal scene

Anyway, off to run some last minute errands before tomorrow!

More Headshots

The man himself. Brian Sutherland. Who will be playing Sean.

A Visual Aid

Still lots to do but things are starting to come together for next weekend.

After great searching, we have our Sam! Played by the extremely talented Stephanie Carpentieri. We're all very happy to have her onboard.

I am gonna try to put everyone's head shots up as I obtain them. More to come.

I went location scouting the other day to try to find a picturesque looking dock to shoot a scene at next weekend. There were a couple good choices, but Peter, the camera guy and I settled on a suitable location. I snapped a couple pictures.

Trying to play Cat herder and get everyone in line and get all the ducks in a row. Seems to be coming together well so far though. I'll post lots more pictures of shooting weekend when it comes. More soon.

Eeking It Out

Little by little. I haven't posted much recently, because there really isn't all that much to post. Progress has been slow. Still on targed for the weekend of the 25th for shooting some scenes. Brian got his Sam lined up, and I'm pretty happy with her, so it looks like she'll be our girl as far as the trailer goes. I think Zach's still lined up to be our Aven, but we'll see how it goes. It will be good to get something on film, and then start going from there. I guess that's when the real work starts. Brian and I are talking about going to LA together, and that would definitely be one of the things we would use to try and get funding. No place better than there for movie funding I suppose.

More details as they become available.

Adventures in 2D: Storyboarding

Thought I'd put up a couple pictures I snapped while Brian and I were working on the storyboards the other day in his back yard. Notice the life-like detail. The sign of a true artist.

Script Reading Redux

So I wanted to bring in a couple other people to read for roles that haven't been cast yet, so the Amateur Hour Crew got together last night and had another script reading. I invited Zach, a friend of mine from work, and a friend of Britney's, Ashley to come and read for Aven and Sam respectively. I liked them both alot. Zach in particular. Brian and I were split on Ashley though. I really liked her, but Brian had some sort of visceral reaction. So he wants to bring in a couple of his actress friends, which is fine, but if I don't see someone I really like I'm going to consider going back to Ashley. I don't want it all to become a big thing though, it's not worth it, so hopefully we'll find that perfect someone that everyone can feel all warm and fuzzy about. Zach looks like an ok Aven, at least as far as the trailer goes. We got in contact with Ben Griesse, who we worked with on Suburbia and I think would be great for the part, but he's in LA right now so we'll see how that develops. It will certainly add another level of complication to everything, but I think he could be amazing if we made it work.

I thought the editted version of the script read a little bit better. Little more snappy. I can see a couple little things that can be trimmed in the early going to help keep things moving along. These readings are good for that. Hopefully these things will continue to flesh themselves out as we go through rehearsals and whatnot. God knows there's alot to be done, but I'm ready, so bring it on!

We set a tentative date to shoot the trailer on October 25th, so hopefully we can get all the pieces in place by then. So much to do. So little time. The vibe seemed right last night though so hopefully we can continue to build on the positives and just keep the train going on down the track. More updates as they become available.

Rechargeable batteries

I'm back from my trip and hitting it hard. I finished writing my prequel short on the plane ride home. Still needs some tweaking, but I like how it turned out. I'm not sure how it's all gonna work out, but ideally it will be one of the first things we film. We'll see.

I went over to Brian's and we storyboarded the first scene we're going to shoot. I've been tasked with going home and making the trailer for it, which should be fun. It's just a little frustrating because it's definitely a Catch-22. It's hard to go forward with filming when you still don't have all your actors nailed down yet, but it's hard to nail down actors when filming is still up in the air. Oh well. We shall overcome. I talked with Halle, my prospective Sam, and I think I got a vote of confidence from her that I can proceed knowing I have her in my corner. Hopefully things will continue to become clear as they progress.

I snapped a couple pictures of Brian and my storyboarding session. I'll post them later tonight. Keep on trucking

Parting Clouds

New update on Brian's health, he went to the doctor and was diagnosed with some sort of infection (they had to do an ultrasound on his testacle. And you think you're having a bad day) and he'll be out for a couple days, but should make a speedy recovery shortly.

As it stands, we'll look to next week for the reading/meeting, although Peter and Brian did come over last night for a little while, and the vibe still seemed to be good, so right on. Let's keep this train chugging on down the track.

With Brian out, no other real interesting developments to speak of. I'm off to Boston this week for a well deserved adventure. Maybe something amazing will be revealed to me, or I'll have some big moment of realization, but chances are I'll probably just come back with a couple souveniers that I really couldn't afford. One of the two.

Anyway, that is where we stand.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

After the orgasmic peaks we reached during Beau, Brian' and my meeting a couple weeks ago, we have definitely come down to earth a bit, unfortunately. Our script reading scheduled for today was cancelled at the last minute. Peter, one of the main filmmakers we're hoping to get involved had a surprise party thrown for him, since it's his birthday (Random. How dare he have his birthday on the day we scheduled a script reading!) So was unable to attend. Kevin, another filmmaker associated with Mr. Brian Sutherland, was going to be in attendance, but we thought it wiser to reschedule for a time when we can get everyone in the same room. Pow wow style. So hopefully we can schedule that for this week.

In retrospect, rescheduling the read was for the best, as it appears our main attraction, the star of the show, Brian Sutherland, has come down with some strange disease/infection/swelling/African voodoo/Affliction kinda deal that has sent him to the ER. I don't intend to make light of his illness whatsoever other than to hope it is nothing too severe, and our thoughts and prayers are with him. Updates as they become available.

I'm thinking of writing a short to serve as a little mini prequel to Amateur Hour. I hope I won't get sued when I say that I was inspired by the Hotel Chevaliar, the mini prequel to one of my favorite movies of all time, The Darjeeling Limited. I thought it would serve nicely as a good little bonus to people who help make our McGyver job of a Motion Picture a reality. I have an idea, still working out a couple kinks. More word on this soon.

Meeting with the filmmakers Tuesday or Wednesday we hope. Keep you posted as always. Keep the dream alive! I'm thinking of making the official song of the Production of Amateur Hour "Don't Stop Believin'". One thing at a time though.

Another Piece to the Puzzle

As my first real act as a Producer/Director of Amateur Hour, I brought on board a friend of mine, Ford A. Nickel to be the Costume Designer for the shoot. Ford has previous experience with Teatri Zinzani and is a great addition to the team. I think he's gonna bring some good ideas to the table in an area that I will be the first to admit is not really my strong suit, so thanks in advance Mr. Nickel!

Script reading set for Sunday at noon. Not quite sure the cast of characters that Brian's gonna round up, but it should be interesting. After that comes the pitch to make sure everyone's on board. Speaking of on board, I haven't heard from Hallie since the last reading, I should really shoot her an email and see if she'll sit down and talk about the script with me, because she's definitely my first choice for the role of Sam if she wants it.

Script is down to 92 pages in word now. If I have to make any more cuts than I've already made I feel like we're really gonna start losing some real good material, I understand that sometimes that's inevitable but I'd like to avoid doing that as much as possible, I feel like it's a complete piece as is, any further tampering might hurt it I fear. I'll know more after the reading, I just need to remember to make sure to time it. I'm notorious for forgetting. This is why I need a Personal Assistant. I guess that's the NEXT movie :)

Blink and You'll Miss It

As developments seem to be coming by the day, and as I plan on this being a significant part of my life for the next month, it seems most fitting to give my movie Amateur Hour it's own blog.

I am Jonathan Shock, writer of the screenplay Amateur Hour, and of the play The Shaft. This is the blog that I will be using to record all aspects of the making of Amateur Hour and its associated bits and pieces. Stay tuned for regular news, updates, pictures, stories, gaffs, and all things in between.

Amateur Hour starring Brian Sutherland and Beau Prichard, is the story of Sean (Brian Sutherland), a 20 something waiter, who gets fed up with the trials and stresses of trying to make it and finding his place in the world. As such, he is introduced to Reno Brown (Beau Prichard) and his associate Mr. Fix, who turn them on to a life of crime and a different way to make a quick buck. Action, Drama, and Hilarity ensue as Sean and his friend Aven learn to become criminals and do their best not to act like it's Amateur Hour.

As this blog begins we find ourselves in the very early stages of this film's life. We hosted a reading last weekend with myself, Beau and Alan Prichard, Halle and Michael Salas, and Beau Prichard. It went really well and Brian and Beau both instantly took to the script, and have been beyond supportive into trying to get it put on film. We have another reading scheduled for Sunday, where we hope to bring in some friends of Brian's who are local Seattle filmmakers in an effort to get some more people on board so that this movie might actaully get to see the light of day. As such, Beau and I have been working hard the last couple days to edit the script down from it's original 97 pages (in Word Format. Almost 150! in Final Cut format) into something a little lean and meaner. It's been a struggle trying to get people to understand that although the plot is important to the movie, it's not really the driving force of the film. As such, it's important to keep alot of the dialogue as intact as possible, but no bones about it the script is too long, so sacrafices must be made. Every cut is excruciating though, so hopefully we can get through it while keeping as much of it intact as possible.

I was also struck with another ambitious idea tonight about letting Brian's natural improv talent really come through in a bold new way while working on this movie. More to come on that later.

We'll know more about where we stand come Monday. So everyone think good thoughts for us at the reading!