American Thrill Ride - The Movie

Finished the cover art layouts for Chris Darland's new film American Thrill Ride - The Movie. I did not take the pictures nor place the American flag behind the 1955 Chev Gasser, but did front and back layouts (including text and smaller font choices). I met Chris during the filming of Hot Rod Girls Saves The World. He choreographed the fight scenes in the middle section and starred as Freddy, leader of the Dahmer Gang. Chris is also building my 1966 Charger Gasser in his shop called Chris' Hot Rod Garage. Chris asked if I could help him with the layouts and I said "Certainly!' Took around five hours to do. The pic on the right doesn't show the back cover which has film synopsis and additional movie stills. We will carry American Thrill Ride later this year in our Go-Kustom online catalog. I also interviewed Chris about his shop and film in my new documentary Rats & Gassers: Kustom Kulture Takes A Ride, which should be out early 2013.

Hot Rod Girls Save The World

Found these older behind the scenes pics from Hot Rod Girls Save the World by Dan Brouillard in a file folder, when I was looking for promotional stills for an article that a national car magazine was writing about me and Go-Kustom.

My Movie Posters

Got a test poster for my forthcoming film Choper Chicas in the mail yesterday. Had to put it with my other two films on my studio wall. I still need to do one for Evil Undead Girlfiend-:The Re-Animation Of Issa Kross. Chopper Chicas is on the front burner now tho. I think I am developing a poster graphics style.

No Budget Film Making (or Buy Your Own Damn Camera)

Recently I have seen alot of press about crowd-funding and alternative ways for film makers to generate funds to finance their film projects. I'm sorry- I but don't get it. What do these people need all this money for? Can they make films with virtually "No Budget." Yes indeed they can. In this modern age- the less you spend to make something the easier it is to turn a profit. This is obvious economics. If you have no initial investment to recoup then the first dollar you get from a DVD sale or VOD play is the first dollar in your pocket.

My first film, Hot Rod Girls Save The World, cost less than $3,000 to make. That was spread out over four years of production. Most of this expense was pizza for the cast and crew, blank DV tapes, gas money for actors and location fees. It would have been much less (as is the case with my new film Rat Rod Rockers!) had it not taken four years to film. Understand that I am NOT including in this "$3,000" my camera or video editing system. The reason quite simply is- I use my gear with other client's in money making projects. It would be impossible to calculate what percentage of my equipment costs are directly related to my films. Obviously if I didn't have a camera or a way to edit my films, I couldn't make the films at all. This leads us to-

Buy your own camera! Like a guitarist without a guitar a film maker without a camera is a sad sight indeed. Worse are the film makers who know nothing about using a camera and hire "cinematographers" to film their movie for them. This is extremely old school and an unnecessary film expense (sorry cinematographers). It may have been necessary when cameras were behemoth $200,000 beasts that took two people to lift, but not now. To truly understand the language of film making, you really need to know how to work a camera, to find the angles yourself and to feel the mechanics of making a movie first hand. You should know all the settings of your camera, how it reacts to no light, low light or sunlight. How to set your white balance, how to set your filming modes, etc. I run a Panasonic AG-DVX100 (cost was $3,200 in 2004). I love my camera! In the 24P mode (24 frames per second, progressive) it looks almost exactly like 16mm film. It is unreal! The other thing about owning your own camera (and editing equipment) is you can film events, weddings, TV commercials and make real money. Money you can use for your next film project! But still you need to...

Own your editing equipment! It's not enough in this modern high tech age to own a camera. You need a way to edit your images together, you need an editing suite! Now there a a zillion ways to go with editing gear. Rather than get into all that, I'll tell you what I use. I own an older Mac 733 G4 running Final Cut Pro 5 (around $1,000). Works great. I bought my Mac new for $3,000 but 733s currently go for $200-300 on Craigslist. Learning to edit can take some time. I taught myself FCP in around six months, by doing various projects and learning as I went. I do have an unfair learning advantage, as I was very familiar with music programs like Pro Tools and Cubase. I have been using computers to make music since the early 1980's (remember Atari?). You may be saying- "I don't want to learn how to edit or work a camera!" Then my friend you definitely will need some serious crowd-funding to pay your cinematographers, editors and of course buy some cheese pizza for your cast and crew. Me I'm in post with my second feature, in production with a Documentary about horses, setting up my next music video and scripting my third feature length film. You keep looking for the money, I'll keep making movies!

More about paying (or not paying) actors and crew next time.

Hot Rod Girls Save The World Character Bios For DVD

Been working all day on the character bios for the new Special Features disc which is part of the Hot Rod Girls Save The World (Kustom Edition) DVD that comes out in February, 2010. I decided to fill this disc up with info, behind the scenes clips, maps, etc. so fans of the film could see how much work has gone into character development, back story and all other aspects of this B-Movie. As the Anywhere Archive Series grows with subsequent films, comic books and novels most of this will be explained. These character bios are basic screen shots that have a forward and back button. I used a scan of a 1950s Mechanics Illustrated aged page for the antique page background texture.

Rust Queens Magazine Review Of Hot Rod Girls Save The World

Got a nice review of our film Hot Rod Girls Save The World in the new (and first) issue of Rust Queens Magazine.

Killing Machine Music Video Progress

Made a little headway today on the Kill Switch...Klick w/ Super Amanda music video for Killing Machine. Should have it done in a few days. because of the green screen removal and multiple layers, render time is long every time I make any kind of a change in the timeline.

Killing Machine & DTM Charger

Working on the Killing Machine video for the new Hot Rod Girls Save The World (Kustom Edition) DVD. Super Amanda did an excellent performance for the video, I just haven't had time (until now) to edit it. This is a tie in to the film. Also reworked my DTM Charger, lowering it and ripping out most of the interior. If I only had an extra $60,000 it would be a real car. It still needs front airdam, etc.

New Hot Rod Girls Save The World "Kustom Edition"

Spent a good chunk of the day revamping the Hot Rod Girls Save The World DVD cases for the new two disc "Kustom Edition" version that will be coming out in stores in a few months. The new edition has a Special Features disc with deleted scenes, trailers, behind the scenes and music videos. The film itself is a tighter edit with several scenes deleted and an alternative ending added after the rolling credits. The biggest change in the cover art is the accent colors. I went with a marigold hue as opposed to the familiar red orange on the previous "First Edition" DVD.

A Still For IndieFlix

I need to pic one still to represent Hot Rod Girls Save The World on IndieFlix.com. Which should it be and why?
My thoughts. The top pic of the affected zombie attacking a gang member in front of his '33 Plymouth is one of the most action driven parts of Hot Rod Girls. It also shows that not all teh film is Black & White. 1/3rd of the film is actually in color.
The middle picture of Betty Petty's long legs standing next to her Hot Rod has a "Hot Rod Sex Appeal" to it.
The bottom picture of Betty in her '29 Ford is a little ominous and shows a "Hot Rod Girl" in her ride.

"Harold's Theme" & Sore Shoulders

Finished the basic scratch tracks for "Harold's Theme," for my upcoming film Rat Rod Rockers! I used a drum loop set from Beta Money's Blues Rock Series and then built up the guitars from there. Took about an hour of noodling to find a Peter Gunn style guitar line. I wanted something "spy like" as Harold is spying on the Mad Kats gang when you hear this theme. I used a Tele like Boss GT-3 guitar patch to get that low down digger sound. The Rat Rod Rockers! soundtrack is gonna be alot of fun to create.

Also ran hella errands yesterday and actually swam some laps at the YMCA. I had to call it after only seven laps! Man am I out of shape. Shoulders are a little sore today. Too much sittin' on my ass and looking at computer screens. Also took the dogs to the doggie beach with my wife and daughter. Funny how making your dog happy can make you a little happier too.

Watched "My Name Is Bruce" last night. Funny film. I dig Bruce Campbell. He's kinda like a bad ass Jim Carrey. Which actually brings us back to "Harold's Theme." Harold's character is patterned a little bit on Bruce.

Interview For 911 Media Arts

Got interviewed by 911 Media Arts video magazine for the Hot Rod Monsters Film Festival and my last film Hot Rod Girls Save The World.

First Ten Minutes Of Hot Rod Girls Save The World Now On YouTube

Just Posted The First Ten Minutes Of Hot Rod Girls Save The World to YouTube. This is the YouTube link- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWSV0tG4YZ0
The You Tube playback looks a bit grainy and jittery compared to the actual movie which is clean clean clean. I tried using different compressors, but it is up the way it is up...know whadeyemean? It might be the pulldown. The film was shot at 24 frames per second. Most video playback is 30 frames.

Rat Bastards Car Club HRGSTW Screening

Had a blast at the Rat Bastards Car Club screening of Hot Rod Girls Save The World. Good turnout and everybody was very friendly. This is so much cooler than Hollywood...ya know? Grass Roots Indie-Film promotion at its best. Thanks guys (and gals) for inviting me out!

And More Snow...

More snow yesterday. Our cars are trapped behind a three foot snow bank created by recent passes of the Snow Plows. So my wife and I went on foot to Safeway last night to buy the kids their stocking stuffers and rent a few movies. We rented the new Death Race- an excellent film, but it should have been called Twisted Metal Armageddon Prison. It had nothing in common with the original Death Race 2000 plot wise, other than the main characters pseudonyms of Frankenstein and Machine Lots of cars with guns action and even a cameo Mopar Billboard sign. Looks like Ford and Chrysler sponsored the film. I also started work on my new D.A. Sebasstian & The Inner demons CD. This one is a Punk, Blues and Surf mix that should be out sometime next year. I intend on using some of the tracks for my next film that we hopefully shoot next summer.

Hot Rod Girls Save The World DVD

Sold out of the first run of the Hot Rod Girls Save The World DVD in one week! More are coming in. Also finalized the KsK Soundtrack for Hot Rod Girls Save The World. We should have them in and ready to ship by middle of next month.