That's a Wrap!

Principal Photography for From Below, our Sr. Project short film production as Cinema students is officially wrapped! And we celebrated with a Wrap Party tonight. Our last production day was this Saturday, but we did have to go back for one quick pick up shot on Tuesday night that we lost from a corrupted file...but it was all good because we also had the chance to go ahead and do some Publicity/marketing photos for posters, DVD & disc art, etc. Within the last 24 hours I created this movie poster for the wrap party tonight so we could have it printed out to unveil. We had two, and got almost everybody from the Cast & Crew to sign the posters with a silver sharpie. (If you didn't come to the party, & helped with production, please let us know so we can get you to sign them too!)

It was a pretty fun little party, a chance to thank our awesome team for all their endless hours, help, and dedication. Andrew and our awesome Editor/Script Supervisor, Katy, cut together a quick blooper reel, a production still photo loop to roll while people came in, and a few rough cuts of some new scenes no one had seen yet. We had a celebratory cookie cake, punch, & popcorn, and we were so happy to get such a nice turn out. I think most of our cast/crew, and supporters were there with just a couple missing.

The scenes are looking good, and the bloopers were really funny...and those weren't nearly all of them. I think it will be really fun to have an official complete blooper reel for the DVD. All of our cast and crew will be getting a copy and a credit, and obviously some fun memories & experience!

The room was filling up in anticipation!

Tucker came in late & missed all the scenes we showed, so we had a special 2nd viewing for him & those that stuck around

The Director & our two Stars!

It's due on December 8th for our Senior Project class, so we should have a really nice finished product then. Though we may make some more final adjustments to really perfect it after the course deadline too, but intime for the portfolio show we'll be in for Sr. Portfolio class next Spring during our last semester.

Obviously our post production team of editors, music composers, & audio guy still have a lot of work ahead of them, and I've got a lot more promotional material & artwork to design, but we're looking forward to a great finished piece. You should be able to follow along on our progress here. And Andrew just made a Facebook 'Page' we'd love for you to "like." Go ahead and subscribe to the blog now, if you haven't already!

From Below on Facebook

Principal Photography wrapped! Here we come post team!

From Below is now on facebook.  Check it out, "like it", and be keep up to date with all the post production information.

Extra! Extra! Calling all Extras!

Come be an extra in our senior film project, "From Below".  We will be shooting this Saturday (11/6) at the old Price Cutter building (South East corner of Holly and 412) Siloam Springs, AR 72761.  We need as many people as we can get at 2pm, and we'll shoot all afternoon.  The film is set in a future dystopia so come in your dirties homeless clothes.

Please contact me for more information. 

ArmstrongR@jbu.edu

Hey check this out.

As a filmmaker I am always drawn to post that cover opinions on the film industry and a good friend of mine posted a blog that I think sums my thoughts on Christian filmmaking versus Hollywood.

Give it a read

From Below Days 2-4

So it's been a few days since we been able to post our progress, but the production is still going strong.  We've finished several scenes and things are moving along really well.

Day 4 was by far the most interesting.  It all started off with a visit from the Siloam Springs Police Department.  Apparently a white Tahoe backed up to an empty store front taking video equipment inside prompts a concerned citizen to believe that one would be stealing from an empty building. We got it all sorted out in the end and our production day began.  

Photo Trent Chopski

While the art department started dressing the set, Tyson and I scouted on the underside of the store for possible locations.  The tunnels were about three feet tall and about three feet wide, and while the crouching to moving around was almost painful the tunnels down there we awesome and we were able to get some shots down there.

"I survived" - Photo Trent Chopski

  The couple of weeks will be the most hectic but also the most fun.  We're moving on to our key dialogue scenes and staying in the store.  So even more interesting shots to come, but check out some of hte other photos from this week.

Photo Trent Chopski

Photo Trent Chopski

Photo Trent Chopski

Photo Trent Chopski

From Below - Day 1

Photo - Josh Adams

 Principal Photography 

 of "From Below"

 has begun!

     Saturday marked our first production day on our senior project, "From Below."  We are excited to be making a film that is a science fiction re-telling of Plato's Cave analogy, and we're even more excited about the wonderful crew and cast to be working on our film.

Photo - Josh Adams

     The first day on a student project is most nerve racking because you've been working on all the tiny details you start to wonder if you made everything clear, but I have to say here that everything went extremely well.  Sure a few things went array, but we had so many people helping on the crew that things recovered quickly.  We started the morning out attempting out first dolly shot, after awhile we really started clicking in as a team and moving things along nicely.  The dolly shot as expect was the toughest part of our day, but that mostly had to do with equipment and terrain issues.  Our other large issue of the day was the JBU rugby game that started up after we had lunch.  We didn't know it was going to happen and the timing feel right as we were doing dialogue coverage.  So we have to schedule a new day for that and new dolly, but the practical side of the crew was awesome.

Photo - Josh Adams

     As a student director you really do most things by yourself or a few others and share the work load, but here we have a crew near 15 people all willing to work hard for a great film.  I couldn't be more happy to have such a great team and for them making it possible to really focus in on what I need to tell a story.  The next few production days should be a blast.  Check back for more production updates!

Still Frame from our Footage - Tyson Bank - DP

Seeking storyboard artist for pre-production of new web series “Penitence”.

Synopsis:

A father seeks vengeance against the Mob for the death of his daughter. On this road of revenge our hero finds a new perception of sin and virtue within the world. This philosophical drama asks the question, how far can one push against evil before becoming a monster themselves and where will one have to draw the line with forgiveness?

Penitence will be presented in a 13 episode web drama as a live action comic noir.  Each episode uses the theme of a deadly sin or its corresponding virtue.  Jared Blakley and Joel Martin worked on the script for me this summer and I'm trying to finish pre-production this next school semester for production in May.  I'm in need of a storyboard artist to complete a storyboard of the series by March 10th, but as you might guess I don't have a budget yet.  What I would like to purpose is that in addition to the web series we package the storyboard as a comic that can be sold separate or with a DVD of the series, and pay the artist and the writers a royalty from the net income from the comic book sales (splitting it evenly at 33% each).  Additionally, I would like to put into writing something that includes a buy-out clause for the total the work is worth that we could refer to if the series, characters, and/or concept is brought out from me.  The contract would be used a negotiation tool as well as a reference when/if money becomes involved.

If you are interested please send me a .pdf of a couple samples of your work and your contact information.

Thanks for your interest.