Lupine Films Blog

I’ve not posted to this blog quite as much lately as I would like.  This is mostly due to the stresses of planning / making the movie, working a full time job, living in an apartment that is technically just an old boat (leaving me to pick up internet signals from passing pigeons I’ve wrapped partially in aluminum foil) and other such things.  But mostly to working on the movie. 

And what work it’s been!  We’ve shot around 60% of principal photography now.  I had planned to have even more at this point, but shooting all the photography for a feature folm — I meant to spell that as film, but no turning back now — in two weeks was a bit ambitious on my part.  Maybe if both I and the entire cast / crew were robots who did not need sleep, food, water or companionship.  We’ve had a number of 12 hour shoot days and the energy definitely begins to drag at the end, requiring all involved to go pass out exhausted to snuggle with bottles of scotch. 

But the movie remains completely on schedule for a rocking premiere at the Roxie on November 3rd.  Let’s talk a bit about what has been shot so far. 

Spooky House Scene

Roughly twelve to fifteen minutes of the film take place in a wonderfully spooky house in the Outer Richmond of SF.  Special thanks to the fabulous Christy Funsch for allowing me access to her home.  While there, the band encounters clowns, mummies, bears and vermouth. 

Some stills directly cut from the film can be seen below.  More color correction will likely be done with the footage as I edit. 

 

The four members of Clamhawk Manor look over the house, unaware of the menace sneaking up behind them. 

Just some “people” in bear suits, you know, hanging out. 

Backstage at Mighty

A Hard Day’s Nightmare builds up to a huge performance at Mighty Galleries in SOMISSPO.  The band spends some time backstage beforehand (roughly ten minutes of the movie), where they get into fights and drink a lot.  Thank you to Producer Sean Manchester for letting us film there this month and next!

Sid (aka, Frankenstein’s Band Manager) comes in to break up a fight between two members of the band.  I’d guess he offers them ice cream.  Cool glam rock bands love ice cream! 

And more fighting. 

Thanks to Dave Haaz-Baroque and Traci Wrycza for dominating all aspects of makeup! 

Hanging out in a Hotel Room

The band hangs out in a Hotel Room after being chased all over town earlier in the movie.  About twelve minutes of the movie take place here.  The band runs into some fans and rivals while there. 

Sid confronts his arch-nemesis Pierre. 

A member of the band hangs out in the Sauna with a new friend. 

Meeting Up with a “Guru”

For various reasons, the band goes out to find a guru.  And they only get the best. About six minutes of movie take place here. 

The guru playing a very special sitar. 

We have a few small scenes, some montages, a big scene in a forest and the closing performance to film still.  

Richard Something

We had a script reading / rehearsal on Sunday and went through all the dialogue three times over the course of about four hours.  This really helps the actors get a grasp on their roles and cuts down on the number of takes we’ll need to do on location.  

This was also an opportunity to make a few final script changes, flip one or two characters around and generally make sure that the typed words also work as spoken words.  

I took a few pics while we were working.  Seems like a good way to introduce you to some of the cast and crew.  I’m including a context free sample line from each of their characters because why not?  With no context, I’m not really giving anything away. 

 

To the left is Chris Davidson.  Playing a role named “Bassist” (even though he’s actually the guitarist).  

BASSIST

“But what about the Draculars?”

To the right is Chris Ewald.  He’s playing Homeless Man, Electric Chris and is also a producer.

HOMELESS MAN

“Beware these woods.”

Another photo of Chris alongside Kovas Boguta, who plays “Sid” aka “Frankenstein’s Band Manager”. 

SID

“When we go to the hotel, I want you boys to stay put. I can’t have my stars get eaten by Wolfmen or Igors, now can I?”

To the far left is JM Milliken.  He plays the lead role of “Roger Oddcock”.  He also wrote and recorded the soundtrack, and was one of the screenwriters. 

ROGER ODDCOCK

“Lock that door. Keep away from the windows. Get me a cocktail.”

Next to him is Riah Gouvea.  Riah plays the “Mad Scientist” as well as “Death Barbara” the ghost comedian. 

DEATH BARBARA

“You ever notice how white ghosts be all…”

To her left is Phoenicia Pettyjohn.  Nicia plays the Bassist’s grandma (who is a mummy), is the choreographer of all our dance scenes and fills in as the understudy for the character of “Frankie Lodge”. 

Next to Nicia is GM Sukara.  He is one of the screenwriters and plays “Pierre the Skeleton”, “Dracula” and acts as the band’s priest.

PIERRE

“Please don’t be frightened. My name is Mr. Lorraine. But you can call me Pierre.”

Pictured on the far right is Adam Shaw.  Adam is playing a wolfman and the ticket taker at the club where the band’s playing. 

TAKER

“Vamoose. Amscray! Don’t you understand English? I said scram!”

A few who are not pictured:

Tony Corten.  Tony plays “Frankie Lodge”, Roger’s right-hand man in the band. 

FRANKIE LODGE

“Yeah, we saw a Guru and ate some cake and then went for a run and, and, and…”

Shasta Phillips.  Shasta plays the “Theater Manager” at the venue where the band performs.   

TM

“It’s Pete, sir.”

Cameron Lovelace.  He plays a character named the “Guitarist” even though he’s the band’s bassist.  Stick with me on this. 

GUITARIST

“I’m right and he’s wrong. That’s the problem.”

Jenni Gebhardt.  She’s the band’s attorney.  

LAWYER

“This other contract pays you in eternal torture and damnation in an eternal lake of fire… and a lime popsicle on your birthday.” 

Land Abbinante.  Wolfman / Bellboy.  

“Oh no, I’m totally a Wolfman, but I’m also a bellboy.”

There are many other members of the cast and crew, of course.  More intros to come!

R. Something

In today’s post I simply want to thank every single person who so generously contributed to our project.  We’re going to make a kick-ass movie and that is thanks in very large part to the 43 people listed here. 

There will be many more thanks at both an individual and group level.  But I just wanted to put the names of everyone who has so far contributed in one place.  

• Drew Richards (Producer): Thank you!
• David Rusenko (Producer): Thank you!
• Steven Roussey (Producer): Thank You!
• Salad Von Baco: Thank You!
• Sarah Benner: Thank You!
• Nathan Smith: Thank You!
• Sean Manchester: Thank You!
• Michael Burris: Thank You!
• Erich Schulz: Thank You!
• Kathi Catlett: Thanks mom!
• Gaelen Gates: Thank You!
• Sandy Eggers: Thank You!
• Kristina Moon: Thank You!
• Dan Veltri: Thank You!
• Chris Fanini: Thank You!
• Toni Whose Last Name is a Mystery: Thank You!
• Tricia DiGaetano: Thank You!
• Elias Hishmeh: Thank You!
• The Millikens: Thank You!
• Ryan Whose Last Name is a Mystery: Thank You!
• Amy Yarborough: Thank You!
• Erin Brazill: Thank You!
• Adam Shaw: Thank You!
• Susan Coss: Thank You!
• Christina Hoheisel: Thank You!
• Chad Krsek: Thank You!
• Abby Wohl: Thank You!
• Erica Waldorf: Thank You!
• Katherine de León: Thank You!
• Mary Ann Machi: Thank You!
• Dawn Mermer: Thank You!
• Mike Papagni: Thank You!
• Nico Crisafulli: Thank You!
• Kristine Whose Last Name is a Mystery: Thank You!
• Barry Tribuzio: Thank You!
• Katherine de León: Thank You!
• Martha Sue: Thank You!
• Erica Waldorf: Thank You!
• Julian Macaluso: Thank You!
• Luke Farrell: Thank You!
• Erica Salzman: Thank You!
• Johnny Tripod: Thank You!
• Mike van Vuuren: Thank You!

I recently registered our script for A Hard Day’s Nightmare with the Writer’s Guild of America.  This gave me an unexpected rush of excitement.  The movie feels very real now.  

To celebrate, and give you a small glimpse of the film, I want to share a short scene from very near the opening in which the band is on a BART train just having made an escape from a rather large number of monsters.  

A reminder: A Hard Day’s Nightmare is written by Richard Something, GM Sukara and JM Milliken.  Each of us wrote at least some part of even this short scene.  The text is not “script” formatted as that is somewhat difficult to do in a blog post. 

———

INT. BART TRAIN

The band is arrayed along the open rows of seats generally reserved for the disabled and elderly. 

ROGER ODDCOCK

How long til the show? 

FRANKIE LODGE

About 12 hours. 

ROGER ODDCOCK

I’m not sure we can make it that long. 

BASSIST

My grandma’s house is near here.  We can hide out there for a while.

ROGER ODDCOCK

So, what’s grandma like? She a GILF?

BASSIST (disgusted)

Did you just say GILF?

FRANKIE LODGE

I thought your grandma was dead. 

BASSIST

She is. 

ROGER notices movement further down the train.  It appears to be some kind of demon, vacantly grinning at him and moving into their car. 

ROGER ODDCOCK

Well, we definitely can’t ride the train around all day. 

———-

Next week: a post discussing my own personal influences and influences on this film, as well as a look at the various villains and monsters.  

- R. Something

In filmmaking, as in photography, there is a tendency to make a fetish of equipment.  And while that is necessary to a degree — it would be pretty difficult to make a proper film with, say, a flip cam — equipment often has little bearing on how anything turns out.  There have been some absolutely atrocious films made with incredible equipment and sky high budgets.  And there have been some wonderful films made with next to no money and the most basic of tools.  The key is to know the limitations of both yourself and your equipment. 

The Camera

I’m using a Canon Rebel T2i to do all of the filming (sound is recorded separately).  Sometimes there will be one or two other Canon cameras on set to enable me to shoot multiple angles without needing to do take after take. 

But isn’t the T2i a “prosumer” digital SLR?  How can you use that to shoot a movie? 

Answer to question 1: Yes.  

Answer to question 2: By pointing it at various people and scenes, and then pressing the record button. 

Video on the T2i is excellent and borders on 35mm film quality.  Particularly when used with a high quality lens.  And my more-expensive-than-the-camera f/2.8 17 to 55mm Canon EOS IS lens definitely qualifies. 

Why use this camera and not something fancier? 

Well, for one, it’s significantly cheaper than the alternatives.  And as I am not Joel Silver, this is important.  I’ve also used the T2i for all but one of my other films. 

But beyond that, I have 12 years of experience as a photographer.  I have an understanding of how to use a SLR that I completely lack when it comes to more traditional film cameras.  So while another, more expensive camera would potentially be capable of more than what the T2i can do, I would not personally be capable of reaching that potential due to my lack of experience with the more expensive camera.  To stress what I mentioned earlier: know your limitations. 

And as odd as this may sound, I learned composition when I was a projectionist for four years in High School and then college.  Composition was burned into my brain by watching tons of movies over-and-over again from the booth (the lessons taught me by watching Coyote Ugly thirty-some-odd times cannot be quantified), then gained loads of experience as a modern dance photographer, and have now come full circle to use this “expertise” to shoot movies with what is traditionally a still camera. 

If you don’t think a Canon SLR is capable of shooting a film, watch Black Swan.  Several scenes were shot on a 7D, which has the exact same sensor as the T2i.  TV shows like House have also been photographed on Canon SLRs. 

Also see our short film This is Not a Note (which won best cinematography at the San Francisco Seven Day Film Festival and was short listed at the London International Super Shorts Festival primarily due to its cinematography) to get an idea of how I’ve used this camera in the past:

http://www.vimeo.com/13612602 

Sound

To record the audio, we’re using a H4N portable recorder in conjunction with a Sennheiser MKH 416 shotgun microphone.  The MKH 416 is used on TV Shows and large budget movie sets.  It’s the most expensive piece of equipment I’ve purchased (along with the lens mentioned above).  I haven’t previously owned sound equipment that wasn’t at least somewhat junky.  Our last short, Home Run Pie, has passable sound.  This should help us improve greatly on that.

This upcoming week is the true beginning of pre-production.  We’re going to wrap up the third (and mostly final) version of the script.  And begin work on make-up and costume design for all of the monsters.  

More soon!  

- R. Something

I took the photos for the A Hard Day’s Nightmare promo album cover in GM Sukara’s living room. The light was perfect there, with huge windows at the front of the room blasting sunlight and nothing but reflected light coming from any other direction.  

The pics were simple enough to do.  Set up camera on tripod, point camera at white wall, stand person in front of camera, have them make faces, hold down the shutter button while they do so.  The more difficult part came in selecting which photos to use.  I shot over 150 pictures of each person, and a bit less of each monster (note I did not take the photo of the Creature from the Black Lagoon in the lower right of the album cover, but everything else we shot right in the living room), and needed to obviously narrow that down to the number shown in the actual graphic. 

So I wanted to share a few of the photos from the shoot that didn’t make the cut or were inappropriate for the promo pic.  

GM and his brother Dan (as the wolfman):

GM:

Roger Oddcock:

Frankie Lodge pretends to talk to a hot dog. Because we made him:

Land:

GM getting a little too fresh with Pierre the skeleton:

-R. Something

This marks the first of what will be many posts looking behind-the-scenes at the pre-production, production and post-production process of creating A Hard Day’s Nightmare.  

Who is behind A Hard Day’s Nightmare?

Richard Something: Director, Cinematographer, Editor, Writer

That’s me!  I thought of the idea for A Hard Day’s Nightmare while standing around a bar last autumn with most of the people listed here.  I immediately started discussing it as if I’d thought of it weeks before instead of right at that moment. 

The idea itself is obviously a simple one:

The Beatle’s A Hard Day’s Night is about a band being chased by teenaged fans who are so desperate to be near the band that they appear ready to tear them apart.  

Clamhawk Manor’s A Hard Day’s Nightmare is about a band being chased by monsters (who are also their fans) who are desperate to tear them apart. 

The question was: how do we make a good movie out of that premise?  What makes A Hard Day’s Night so enjoyable is that it is genuinely odd, wonderfully shot and has fab music by the four Beatles, each of whom is funny in his own right. 

I do think we have the answer to that question for A Hard Day’s Nightmare.  And we plan to see it come to fruition with the finished film.  

GM Sukara: Writer, Actor

GM and I are each responsible for about 50% of the script.  This break-down could be roughly written as “Richard provides the trunk, GM provides the branches.”  

Whereas I have been primarily focused on tying together the plot, and adding both spookiness and a somewhat slapstick comedy approach, GM has fleshed out the characters, written some incredible comedy scenes and added a rock-and-roll vibe that I don’t have the first clue how to write. 

Ultimately, no GM would mean no feature length A Hard Day’s Nightmare.  Without him I’d have written a much shorter movie, probably in the range of 30 minutes or so. 

Roger Oddcock: Musician, Actor, Writer

Roger is the man behind Clamhawk Manor.  His personality drives both the band and the movie.  He is a legendary rock musician, sex god and drunk.  He’s writing some amazing songs for the film and contributing to the script. 

Frankie Lodge: Musician, Actor

Frankie is the band’s drummer and Roger’s right-hand man.  He is the only other member of the band Roger considers his equal.  

Chris Ewald: Producer

Chris Ewald produces all our movies.  He fills in the blanks during production (a true jack-of-all-trades), keeps us on task and acts as a critic to keep the production’s tone from drifting up-its-own-ass.  So to speak. 

Drew Richards: Associate Producer

Drew is putting a generous amount of his own money into the film and has offered himself up to help in any way possible.  We are taking him up on that offer. 

You’ll get to know all of the above — as well as the many other wonderful people involved in the project — throughout these posts. 

We’re on our way to making a fantastic movie!

- R. Something