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.