Here’s some artwork for our short film Marathon. It turned out really good. Pink is back baby! It was designed by Ryan Strong. His website and work can be found at Purblind Design.
These were created from nothing but screen grabs from Final Cut Pro; we did no pre-planning for artwork, which is probably a bad idea.
If these don’t stand out…I don’t know what will.
I promised the trailer for Adventureland and now I present you the trailer for Adventureland. I was so excited about trailers that I even decided to present you Funny People as well…
Adventureland
A comedy set in the summer of 1987 and centered around a recent college grad who takes a nowhere job at his local amusement park, only to find it’s the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world.
Funny People
This is a Judd Apatow movie which is always a good thing.
When seasoned comedian George Simmons learns of his terminal, inoperable health condition, his desire to form a genuine friendship cause him to take a relatively green performer under his wing as his opening act.
The following is something I grabbed from Truly Free Film. Ted Hope runs the blog. He is well known producer. His most recent movie is Adventureland. I’ll post the trailer for that tomorrow. It looks hilarious.
Anyway, this wasn’t written by Hope but one of his bloggers wrote this to him in response to an article he wrote about indie film. I don’t agree with it all, but it’s interesting and he has some good points.
1) The spark that fueled indie film in the ’80s and ’90s was the marketing concept of the “breakout” — first time filmmakers establishing themselves with trademark styles and no money. These filmmakers were the poster children for the movement. Now, however, the paradigm has shifted to a situation where filmmakers are making small, dirt-cheap movies for niches and their friends; the debut film isn’t as important so much as slowly building a track record. In this model, indie film has essentially become regional folk art. I think we need to return to the prior model, but there are some things holding that up. Like:
2) A lot of the pillars of the scene have fought their battles and moved up in the world. The “dependent” phase from the mid-’90s through the early ’00s gave a lot of people a raise in options. Instead of struggling to make a movie for 6-figures or for maybe $1-2M, budgets swelled to $6M as a low, all the way up to $15-25M (some even higher). In this context, I think a lot of these pillars are self-admittedly not as in touch with new talent anymore, and they’re glad they don’t have to do guerrilla scrambling anymore. I recall a panel with you and Christine at Tribeca a few years back, where you both admitted that you were no longer in a position to find and nurture new filmmakers anymore.
3) I think we need to re-think how movies are made. Micro-features and DIY productions use crews in a much different manner than movies made for 7-8 figures, and I think producers need to study what people like myself are doing. For example, the NYFF46 series I created last fall was a 4-part non-linear sci-fi/action mind-bender — it was made for an entire budget of $75, and at least 70% of the time, since I was shooting it while starring in it, nobody was even behind the camera. Now, I happen to think that under the circumstances, the project had pretty good production values. Not that I expect larger budgeted productions to use the exact method I did (they wouldn’t have to if they had money), but there’s got to be something that can be learned and adapted from what I and others have done.
4) Now, if you combine all of the above, you get another problem. It used to be that aspiring filmmakers started with a small budget, either on a short or a small feature, and that was used as a calling card to get a larger budget. The issue here is that due to the drop in budgets based on prosumer cameras and editing, producers don’t seem to take those projects as seriously. What they mistake, however, is that you’re getting an equivalent production value as before, only it costs a fraction of the amount. But producers aren’t saying: “Wow! Look at what so-and-so did for so little. Imagine what they could do with a larger budget? I want to work with him!” Instead, they seem to be looking at the budget, and on that basis alone, writing it off: “Let me know when you’ve moved on to bigger things, but for now, you’re a small fry.”
5) The internet is not the savior. The internet is great for sales and marketing, but it’s a lousy delivery method. The quality is terrible. I’ve never looked at the internet as anything other than a means to get exposure and establish myself — so I can get OFF the internet and make real features. However:
6) Internet filmmaking still isn’t taken seriously. It doesn’t matter how good my work is or how good it looks, there are people who simply, either by virtue of the size of the player, or through general snobbishness, don’t consider it serious filmmaking. I think a lot of the indie community still believes in the film festival model: If you’re a serious filmmaker, you need to submit to festivals. They seem almost fundamentalist in this regard. And it’s holding up progress.
All of that said, I’m still of the belief that the biggest problem in indie film right now is simply the product. When indie film was booming in the ’80s/’90s, young people like myself were drawn to it because it seemed to be the most creative arena in filmmaking. Not now. Young people look to big FX blockbusters as the most creative arena. People now equate indie film with poor production values, cheap-looking handheld photography, amateurish acting, etc. They look at it as a joke. I approached the prospect of DIY filmmaking from the view that ambitious films could now be made inexpensively — I’ve always used tripods, dollies, cranes, special FX. But DIY filmmaking on the whole went in the opposite direction — small, handheld slices of life. And while that aesthetic certainly has its place, it’s never going to find a larger audience, in my opinion. Until we shift out of this phase and DIY filmmakers start creating ambitious pictures at dirt prices, the movement will remain derided. And until the bigger people start lifting up the small, there’s going to remain a major class divide.
best,
-J
I recently watched the film The Foot Fist Way and really enjoyed it. It’s absolutely hilarious.
The movie was made in 2006 and follows intense Tae Kwon Do instructor Fred Simmons (Danny McBride) as he loses his confidence after he catches his wife cheating on him. In order to restore his confidence, he attends a martial arts expo to meet his idol, B movie action star Chuck “the Truck” Wallace. And not everything turns out as he expected.
It’s a low budget film shot on 16mm for only $70,000. It premiered at the LA Film Festival and would later show at Sundance. It was soon picked up by Will Ferrell’s production company, Gary Sanchez Productions.
Danny McBride is going on to bigger and better things (so I’ve heard) on the new show, Eastbound and Down. I haven’t gotten to see it yet - it’s on HBO - but I plan on downloading an episode soon to see what I think. McBride was also in the Judd Apatow flick Pineapple Express.
I re-designed marathonshortfilm.com tonight! Check it out. It’s simple. I really like the picture of our main character, Patrick (played by Justin Zipprich), smoking a cigarette in the background.
Well….it’s almost that time. The time that Hollyweird and all the Film-heads get excited about. THE OSCARS!!! Woo hoo! Actually I don’t really care about the Oscars.
I think the Oscars are a rip off because if they gave the awards out properly then the Coen Bros would probably just win every year. But instead we have to watch stupid movies like “Benjamin Button” get nominated. That movie was BORING!
Here are my favorite movies of the year:
Gran Torino
Burn After Reading
The Wrestler
Pineapple Express
But I don’t deserve a vote because my all-time list would be something like:
Rocky IV
Happy Gilmore
Home Alone
Rushmore
Go Geocache!
They’re are having an Oscar pool at my work and it costs $5 to enter. I said no thanks. I’d prefer not to waste my money losing because of the movie Milk. I would rather go eat a cheeseburger with my money.
Well it’s safe to say that the trailer for Marathon has been well received. This makes me very happy. It’s almost as good as drinking a milk shake while lying on the beach while watching my nieces play in the sand while my wife feeds me scallops (the best scenario I could invent in my mind).
I’m always nervous about our movies - ALWAYS! - no matter what. My wife can attest to the fact that when people watch a movie I made that I walk around the back of the room and sweat profusely.
I’ve had friends, family, strangers, and co-workers tell me how awesome they think it looks…so I’m satisfied so far. But it’s only the trailer. Hopefully the movie is well received. Most importantly, I hope it’s well received at film festivals. Keep your fingers crossed….
Over 250 hits on the trailer in 2 days!
Everybody should go see The Widows play live on Friday night at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood.
10 PM
Featuring our very favorite Michael Mazochi as the lead singer.
Here’s a song I bootlegged last time I was there (no cameras allowed)::::
I’ve been on the search to find the best music to listen to while writing in the evenings. You would think anything would work, but it’s not true. AC/DC? Too loud. Oasis? Too catchy. Makes you want to sing and lose focus. Wilco? Same problem. Vampire Weekend? Make me want to dance.
It’s usually best to have music without words (classical always works) and if you must have words then I like music the music listed below:
That’s what you need to write…
If you click on the HD Button on the video and go to the site you can choose to see it in HD in all its glory. It’s a little tough watching it compressed on the internet after seeing it in HD. You have to have a pretty decent computer to watch it in HD.
You can also view it on YOUTUBE (where you can also watch it in HD if you click below the movie)
ABOUT THIS MOVIE:
It was supposed to be Patrick’s chance for glory. His chance to win the Pig to Whig Little Town Marathon.
With all his free time being devoted to training, his wife can easily hide her double life as an international spy. What she steals is the designs to quirky tech gadgets. This time she seduces a computer nerd to steal the designs to a Video Bubble Helmet: a large and awkward device that one puts over their head to watch TV in crazy 3D.
When Patrick finds his wife in the middle of her plan to seduce the nerd, he gets tangled in a circle of counterfeiting, spy agents, the F.B.I., computer nerds, and an overzealous security guard.
And all he knows is that he’s just a marathon runner.
