Little Victories (9/15/08)
In the process of writing the script to One Too Many Mornings, one of the main factors we had to keep in mind was very practical. That anything we wrote - we had to be held accountable for making sure we could actually pull it off. Meaning, if we decided to write a scene set on a sinking ship - it would be up to us and our friends to figure out how to 1. get a boat, 2. figure out how to make it sink, 3. figure out how to get it back out of the water for a second, third, and fourth take.
At the same time, if the entire movie is comprised of simple "two guys talking on a couch" scenes, we might as well stage it as a play instead of a movie.
The one moment in the writing when we decided to step out of our comfort zone involves a scene where the main character punches his fist through a window. When we wrote this scene - we knew full well that we didn't know how to do this, and over the next few months - this was the one thing that we needed to figure out.
Last week, almost a year after we finished the first draft of the script, we still didn't know how to do this. Two days later - Cindy and Michele, our bottomlessly resourceful production designers, had built a fake window frame, painted it to match the door, ordered 5 sheets of custom made breakaway glass, and basically, Saved Our Asses.
This moment is complicated further by taking place during a party, with many extras, and preceeded by a fist fight. In thinking about how to capture this moment with the camera, one option would be to get lots of sloppy, energetic, handheld coverage (Bourne Identity style), and cut it in a way so that it looks much more realistic than it actually is.
The more difficult choice, is to let it all play out in what's called a moving master. Where the camera is on a dolly, and it glides around in one, unbroken take to capture all of the action. While the camera is not necessarily telling the audience to feel on edge, in a way it seems that much more harsh because there's zero cinematic trickery.
The reason it's more difficult is because everything has to go right. The extras have to hit their marks. The special effect of the glass breaking needs to be perfect. Because the camera is constantly moving, so does the focus marks.
Additionally, this is probably the most important moment story-wise as well. The entire crux of the movie hinges on us being able to capture this emotionally as well. So while everyone is running around worried about the technical aspects of the shot - we absolutely cannot lose sight of character.
We attempted this scene on Saturday night.
Sunday morning, at 5:30am, when my head hit the pillow, I slept soundly, knowing we nailed it.
Thank you to all of our patient extras, who kept up their enthusiasm take after take after take. Thank you to our new actors Ed Flores, Bridget Moloney, Daniel Casey, and Jeanette Baity, who were able to maintain a looseness, despite the technical constructs of what we were doing. Thank you to our crew, new and old, who rallied together to really Make It Happen.
In the last half a year we've gone under the bridge, over the river, down the hole, across the street, through the marsh, and into that tunnel that we can finally just now see that glimmer of light at the end of.
21 and 7/8ths pages to go,
Team OTMM
The State Of Hipster Typography (9/5/08)
Ever since Napoleon Dynamite became a surprise hit in the summer of 2003, and the subsequent rise of Judd Apatow a trend in sentimental but cynical film comedy was born. But this post isn't about the comedy...
Read the full article to see where You Can Awesome fits in! I guess we're hip. Read Here!
Weekend Update (9/2/08)
We just finished a great long weekend of shooting. Actor's Gang co-Artistic Director / Really Awesome Dude VJ FOSTER both began and wrapped shooting with us. The last film director he worked with was Steven Spielberg; before then it was Clint Eastwood and Sam Mendes. Now he has Michael Mohan to add to that list. We are so grateful to have him in our film.
Additionally, now JONATHAN SHOCKLEY has wrapped all of his scenes with us. We'll miss working with him, though know he'll probably somehow end up in all of our movies in some way.
Lastly, we began shooting with enthusiastic actors DEBBIE ISRAEL and LIBBY WEST. We're lucky to have started with Libby, as she's in the middle of acting in Frankie and Johnnie in the Claire de Lune. It's a fantastic play, and will be running at the International City Theatre in Long Beach through the end of the month.
We have one sad note, and that is our DP, Elisha Christian got in an awful car accident on Saturday night after shooting. He's okay; his fiance's car is not. Even with that horrible news, and the millions of phone calls it takes to the various insurance companies, he came to set the next day with the same energy and creativity as always.
This upcoming weekend we are only shooting for 1/2 a day, but the following weekend (12th - 14th) we're tackling a large party sequence in the film. If anyone out there wants to come hang out on set, we'll put you in our film as an extra. In the meantime, we've got 1 final role left to make decisions on casting.
30 pages to go,
Team OTMM
OTMM AUGUST UPDATE (7/21/08)
Dear Internet,
Here's a quick update on our little film One Too Many Mornings. We've spent the summer trying to get the raise the rest of our financing for the film, and we did it! Thanks to one very generous man named Robbie. Because of him, we can finish our film!
Right now we are back in pre-production, trying to gather all the resources we need to put this film completely in the can. We also had several roles that we are in the middle of casting. Already we are very excited to be able to work with VJ Foster, Libby West, and Debbie Anne Israel; who have recently agreed to be in the film.
Even though we have the actual funds to shoot the film; everyone is still donating their time and resources to us, and we have some uphill battles ahead of us with securing locations. We simply do not have the money to pay for locations.
So if any generous people in the southern california area has access to either a dive bar, or a large, brightly lit sanctuary; these are the two things we need. We would be shooting in each for 1 full day. Ideally the sanctuary scenes would be filmed on September 1st (labor day).
Aside from that, we're just scheduling and logisticizing and scratching our heads trying to piece together this very complicated puzzle that is the rest of our film. But it's happening.
Slowly but surely,
The One Too Many Mornings Team
SUPPORT OUR FRIENDS (7/21/08)
Sunday Pre-Sale! Drexel Box is currently taking pre-orders for their latest film by Travis Betz, SUNDAY. All pre-sale money will go to the cause of self-distribution, helping our little company grow a little bigger so that we can continue to make unique and risky films. Click on SUNDAY in the features section to watch the trailer, read about the production and purchase the DVD. More Info Here!
CALIFORNICATION! (7/21/08)
Stephen just recently booked and shot an episode of Californication, which will air on Showtime in the fall. They also gave him his own trailer, which you can see from the picture, in which he clogged the toilet and couldn't get it fixed. Show business is crazy!
SUMMER UPDATE (5/22/08)
ONE TOO MANY MORNINGS is officially on hiatus until Mike gets back from Utah. So far it's going so unexpectedly well, and we all can't wait to really get our hands dirty with the rest of this. During this month we'll be trying to raise that last amount of money we need to do so, and Mike will begin editing.
We could have never gotten this far without the support of Elisha Christian, Meg Halloran, Michele Yu, Cindy Chao, Todd Sklar, Brock Williams, John Lynch, Brad Breeck, Erica Acevedo, Tina Kapousis, Jonathan Shockley, Julie Mitchell, Peter Szilagyi, Cheo Ramsey, Zack Fox, Todd "eye on the ball" Luoto, Jon Frechette, Graham Sibley, Bryan Irving, Alex Swakauski and his awesome car!, Tucker Marolf, Dave Canseco, Joe Weinstock, Shaun O'Sullivan, Aaron Martz, Joey Rassow Kantor, Babette and William Hale, Kayleigh Duffy, Beth and Dennis Mohan, Kelly Tillery, Anthony's family, Mary Deptula, Cara and Jacob Farlow, Karen Sampson, Robert Byington, Catherine Conway, Virginia Meredith, Mark Gardner, Courtney Morrison, Michael Burton, Gina Spampanato, Michael Rhodes, Danielle Renfrew, Anish Savjani, all the bloggers, and all the Anonymous Donors. Thank you all so much!
Check out The Kommune (5/21/08)
A new video site launched by some dear friends.
Click Here
THE BLAH BLAH (5/21/08)
We've been found! Don't ever stop believing, our long lost email in The Blah Blah's inbox has surfaced in the form of a post. Thanks for the support! Check it out here.
QUICK UPDATE (4/24/08)
We are currently rolling into our 6th weekend of initial production, out of 8 weekends total. By the end of this leg of production we'll have about 2/3rds of our film "in the can" as they say. As of right now, I've never been this happy with the way a film has been turning out. The usual ebb and flow of self-doubt is there for sure, but slightly less, just because I'm assured in the fact that we're making this film for all the right reasons.
There are many pros and cons to making a film in this scrappy of a way. Many of my friends who have made features with larger budgets than ours (while we initially tried to raise 150K, so far we have been operating with less than 10) say that they would have traded money for creative freedom. This is something I won't ever take for granted. Even though we are faced with compromises of having a smaller crew, and having to scrounge for resources, I can confidently say that at the end of the day, this film will be as close to the film as we set out to make.
Every June, I spend the entire month at the Sundance Directors Lab in Utah as a part of my job. It's an amazing experience; and feels like 4 years of grad school all rolled up into a concentrated 4 week span of time. Everyone who is there, from the creative advisors, to the fellows, to the boom operators, are there for the love and exploration of film.
While I'll have to spend this time away from the film physically, it couldn't be better for the project. I'll have that time to reflect on what we shot, and develop the plan for the rest of the shoot that much better. If I'm lucky there might be a chance I can edit a few scenes at night and on Sundays. I'll probably screen a trailer for the film at the "crew shorts" night.
When I get back in July, the current plan is to finish editing what we do have just to make sure we don't need to do any re-shoots or get any additional scenes. We'll then be finishing up shooting the last 3rd of the movie in August.
THANKS WONDERMARK (4/18/08)
Big thanks to David Malki ! who posted OTMM's link this week!
Check out his comic!
OTMM TEASER (4/16/08)
Here's a short teaser we wanted to share with you:
The big highlight of the weekend happened around 1am on Saturday night when I was trying to silence a really loud cricket and ripped my pants. I wonder how many directors have actually ripped their pants during the middle of shooting a scene.
Extra special thanks to Ron and Mike at the Westside Vicente Pharmacy for letting us shoot there (Mike makes a cameo appearance in the film). Also to Tucker Marolf, who drove all the way to Samy's Camera just for a lens filter. And also to Alex Swakauski for driving his sweet 1968 dodge dart convertible up to Malibu for a few scenes.
QUICK UPDATE (4/8/08)
From the set of OTMM:
We've got a little over 20 pages in the can, and are going in to our 4th weekend of initial production.
SHOOTING CONTINUES... (4/1/08)
Here's what we learned this weekend. If a character has to eat a taco in a scene, and you do 40 takes of the scene, the actor has then eaten 40 tacos. How Stephen Hale managed to not get sick is still a mystery.
After a long Friday night of shooting, myself, Elisha, and Bryan Irving slept on the floor of the set for a couple hours. Bryan snores like an old man.
Click here for more images.
YOU CAN AWESOME ARIZONA! (3/25/08)
We just found out that You Can Awesome has been selected for the Arizona State University Art Museum's Film Festival. It screens on April 12th at 8:00pm, and the cost is Free! For more info click here!
SHOOTING COMMENCES ON OTMM (3/25/08)
We started shooting last Saturday on a deserted beach in Oxnard. 5 pages in the can, 88 to go.
Click here for more images.
PITCHFORKED (3/18/08)
Here's a nice write-up on OTMM on major music site Pitchfork Media.
MINI-UPDATES (3/12/08)
We're moving forward, and start shooting our movie on March 22nd. In the past week, major progress has been made.
Post-Production Audio Services has been graciously donated by the fantastic music production company Mophonics!
Thanks to the blog mentions from Coffee Snorter, Gimme Tinnitus, Classical Geek Theatre, and The Daily Growl!
And thanks to all the people who have donated money to us. Even $20 helps us get that much closer to our goal. We appreciate each and every cent!
FINALISTS FOR MAJOR SXSW AWARD! (3/4/08)
This just in! We literally just found out that our web series You Can Awesome! is one of five finalists for the "Best Original Digital Series Production" award at the South By Southwest Film Festival! The judges include Richard Linklater, Luke Wilson, and Matt Dentler. We will find out next Tuesday night if we win - if so, the cash award will go directly towards production on One Too Many Mornings.
SXSW Rules!
NEW VIDEO! (3/3/08)
Thanks to our friends Todd Sklar and Brock Williams, our HD Camera package arrived on Friday. In order to test it out, we shot this music video for Brad's song.
The idea for the video comes from a real woman who parks in my neighborhood, sits in her car, and listens to music real loud. Last time I saw her she was blaring Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down." I think she has problems. Whenever I walk by her car, I want to approach her and ask what's wrong, but always chicken out. We put this scenario in the context of our film, and while it probably won't make total sense to people who are unfamiliar with the script, my hope it that it at least creates a strong sense of intrigue.
HELP THE U.S. ECONOMY (2/28/08)
As you probably already know, George Bush has decided to help our economy by giving every tax paying citizen a "stimulus package" of $300 - $1200. In order for his plan to work, people need to spend this money. If you don't spend it right away, the US will go into a recession, and it will be all your fault. I can NOT think of a better way of spending this money than by donating it to One Too Many Mornings. Click on "You Can Help" to see how!
CLAP YOUR HANDS FOR MEG (2/27/08)
Meg Halloran is joining OTMM's team! Not only is she super nice, she also hails from the great Heart of Kentucky, which probably explains why she's so nice. She left Lebanon to pursue Radio/Television/Film at Northwestern University. Presently, Meg is a Production Coordinator at Spike TV.
MIKE FOUND A BAG OF MONEY ON THE STREET (2/26/08)
This is a true story. Yesterday, as I was leaving work for the day, I saw a clear "Washington Mutual" bag lying on the ground. I opened it up, and there were several envelopes, stuffed with hundred dollar bills. A lot of them. Not a split second later, a girl runs by, looking intensely relieved from being intensely distraught. "Oh-my-god-there-it-is-thank-you-thank-you-thank-you." Before I knew what happened, she had grabbed it, hopped in her car, and peeled out.
For five seconds, I was literally holding the budget of the film in my hands. Prove that karma does exist: click on "You Can Help" to see how.
LOCATION SCOUTING (2/24/08)
Yesterday, Anthony and I went location scouting and found an amazing stretch of beach in southern Oxnard. Here's some of the footage we took:
Next to the beach, there was the grossest, most polluted bay. It was also full of discarded sporting equipment. We found a football, three basketballs, a golf club, a few golf balls, a softball, and the most incredible bashed up green bowling ball. Oh, and a really nasty Yu-Gi-Oh themed throw pillow.
BLOG LOVE FOR OTMM (2/21/08)
Greetings to everyone coming from Music For Robots, Pinglewood, Berkeley Place, or GreenCine. And thanks to you bloggers for the mention.
WITHOUT OUR WEBDUDES OUR SITE WOULD LOOK LIKE THIS (2/20/08)
A big thank you goes out to our web designers for their hours of hard work donated to us. To Brad Rodstrom for his beautiful design and to Bobby Kosmatka for putting everything in motion. THESE GUYS ROCK!
CAN YOU AFFORD A PIECE OF TAPE? (2/19/08)
Even if you can't donate money to our film, join the street team! It would be a ton of help by simply posting this flyer around your town.
UNA TAMBIEN MUSICA DE MUCHAS MANANAS! (2/14/08)
Hey kids, even though we haven't started shooting yet, Brad Breeck's already hard at work churning out some tunes. Check out this awesome song he wrote by clicking here. This might appear in a "party" or "bar" scene in the "movie".
OTMM COMPOSER BRAD BREECK GARNERS INCREDIBLE PITCHFORK REVIEW! (2/13/08)
Brad Breeck's band THE MAE-SHI just released their new record "HLLLYH!" and received an amazing review (scoring 8.1 out of 10) on super-influential music journal Pitchfork.com today. Here's an excerpt:
"All the shrill exultation and greasy glisten of hyper-compressed guitars and loping Casios build up to something like an album-length musical for the tweakers in after-school detention by a band that sounds the way Ecto-Cooler tasted." - Jason Crock
Read The Full Review
OTMM FINDS A PRODUCTION DESIGNER IN YU (2/13/08)
Michele Yu has signed on to be the production designer for One Too Many Mornings. Michele is the Master of Operations for the awesome art gallery Machine Project, which just hosted the first championship for "Competetive Cable Untangling."
THANK YOU! (2/10/08)
We all just want to thank everyone who has donated money to our film project. You are officially awesome; every little bit brings us closer to our goal! If you are not one of these awesome people and want to become one... click here.
COMEDY CENTRAL MAKES FUNNY WITH MIKE (1/29/08)
While at Sundance, two of Mike's previous short films sold to Comedy Central! Look for I Heart Billy and One Lucky Fan in the coming months.
ATTACHED MEGA MUSICIAN (1/29/08)
Brad Breeck signed on to be the composer for One Too Many Mornings! Brad is a founding member of the awesome and award winning experimental punk band The Mae-Shi. Check out this video Mike and Anthony made for them a few years back.
MIKE'S @ SUNDANCE! (1/25/08)
Mike's webisodes for "Live @ Sundance" have been picked up for syndication by Yahoo!, the Sundance Channel, and the New York Times! Check out this piece he made on Michel Gondry and the influence of music on his writing process. For complete pieces Check Live @ Sundance
HD PACKAGE (1/07/08)
We just received $50K of in kind support from Gold Soundz Productions. This includes all our camera gear: a full HD camera package, with 35mm lens adapters and primes.
