"Give Me Back My Son"

So this is a quick film I did recently in between playing with flies (no, really) and doing pre-production for "Picnic."

Rough Cut's finished. Just add fly.

So basically everything is finished except for the special effects. Even without a Fly or the Kremlin, the film looks very good.

Meanwhile, I've begun work on another project, "Picnic of the Living Dead," a short horror film I'm trying to complete before Halloween. This is the website/blog for that film: http://www.picnicofthelivingdead.blogspot.com/

Keep checking back for more updates on "Fly."

Check out my storyboards

Hey, so I've started a blog/website for my storyboards. Basically it's an online portfolio. If you're interested, it's at: http://isaacnejakostoryboards.blogspot.com/

POST-PRODUCTION!

Thanks to everyone that helped out either in front of or behind the camera these past few weekends. I'm in the middle of editing this puppy and hopefully a rough cut will be ready soon. The final cut will premier sometime in the fall.

Trailer for "Fly on the Wall"

Location, Location, Location

These are stills from last night's shoot. I might put a few more up. Michael Speigner again appears as "The Mole" while the "Mystery Man" in black is Bill Pietrucha. This sequence was shot at the Deluxe Diner in Crystal City.

Second Day of Shooting

These are screengrabs from today's shoot. This sequence will be presented black and white. On the top, from left to right, we have Paul Fahrenkopf as Mikoyan and Joe Deeley as Khrushchev. On the bottom, from left to right, are Richard Cutting as the Admiral, Theodore Snead as the Crooner, and Svetlana Ottey as the Admiral's Wife.

FIRST PEEK AT THE FILM

We wrapped the first day of shooting and while reviewing the footage, I grabbed these two shots. That's Joe Deeley on top as Khruschev and Michael Speigner on the bottom as "The Mole."

Action short, part 1...

So my friend Jake Young and I got together to do a short film. This is the first part. If and when I film and edit the second part, I'll post that too. This is a test, like the emergency broadcast system, of equipment and technique. Also, I've been watching way too many Robert Rodriguez films lately and it shows.

Props and Costumes

So this film is unofficially sponsered by EBay, where I bought almost all of my main props and costumes. Here is Scott Zeigler wearing his costume from the film. He plays a Soviet Guard.

Fly on the Wall animatics

So these are the animatics for the film. I figure that so few people actually check this site that it won't spoil anything if I post it. That said, if you don't want to know what happens or what it's about, don't watch. Also, some of this will probably change.

Fly on the Wall
Uploaded by icn1983

Update on "Fly on the Wall"

Well, we're little over a month away from production, casting is almost complete, the first set of animatics is complete, props and costumes are slowly but surely being assembled, and we're about to begin rehearsals. Additionally, I'll be testing out the lights, camera, and other wonderful toys in the coming weeks and I'll post the resulting short films/music videos/sketches on this blog.

In the middle of things

Once everything's calmed down, I'll post some more stuff. Until then, here's a contemplative Khrushchev:

Fly test

This isn't necessarily the final incarnation of The Fly.

Fly on the Wall - Animatic

Now begins the tedious yet rewarding process of doing an animatic. This 3 second clip, the first shot of the film, gives a better idea of what the actual shot will look like. I'll post animatics here and there but I won't post an animatic of the whole film since I do want it to be somewhat of a surprise.

That's all folks!

This is it, a little cliffhanger if you will. I've finished the rest of the storyboards and have begun work on an animatic because a) animatics are cool and b) animatics are also a useful tool that allows a director to give actors, investors, and everyone else including the director (that's me!) a better idea of what the finished film will look like when it's cut together. I might post a clip from it, but honestly, I want keep this film to be somewhat of a surprise.

And still more

"Waiter, there's a fly in my blog!" Well, there's more where that came from. LOTS more.

More storyboards from "Fly on the Wall"

Even more

More "Fly on the Wall" Stuff

"Fly on the Wall"

My next short film will in fact be "Fly on the Wall," a surreal, absurdist spy drama set during the Cuban Missile Crisis. This is one of the storyboards, which I hand colored using a seperate sheet of vellum and then layered underneath the original drawing in Photoshop. It's not much, but it was a good learning experience and I think I can achieve a better effect hand coloring with markers or paint and then using Photoshop to tweak it when necessary.

Here's the star of the film:
Anyway, I'll keep posting storyboards and stuff as I go along.