Just something that I happened to stumble upon

I was busy spending my time doing nothing when I happened upon this series of comics on xkcd. Surprisingly it has a similar plot to "Holy War." Check it out. (it's in 5 parts, just hit "next" to see the next page)

http://xkcd.com/341/

oh yeah, how does the 29th sound for a get together to discuss production?

amendment #1: the 29th may not work, how's the 3rd?

Trailer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPNyfvcakuU

Dusty...

It's been quite a while since anything has been accomplished (about 2 months) and I suppose that most of you guys already know that almost every one involved in this got karate-kicked in the collective gonads with school assignments and plays (especially those, congrats on "Frog and Toad" by the way guys. maybe eventually it will stop sucking up all of your time after school.)oh well, we have only a meager two weeks left of school and then no responsibilities for 15 whole days!
This is what I am trying to get at, I have been receiving requests from many of you guys to get going on the film again; I am with you guys 100%. Here's my proposal: we get together sometime in the very, very near future and have a massive planning meeting with everybody who can be there. During the meeting we discuss future shoots and all of that fun stuff. we make the schedule, we call our parents and tell them to mark their calendars and we treat those days with priority (within reason, obviously things will come up) Then we go out there and FINISH THIS MOVIE!
whaddya think?

Week 3 here we come.

Down to business. We've done a great job so far but I think that if we are to get this thing finished in a quick fashion, then we need to make better use of our time. All of this really comes down to the director, who, for the past 2 weeks has watched from the sidelines as his work is being created for him. I believe that in order for us to accomplish the task at hand, I (the director) need to take a much firmer position during the shooting. I plan on using all of my free time this week working out every detail of every scene that we plan to film next weekend. I am going to piece together shots, generate appropriate dialog, and basically become the ultimate authority about every aspect of the movie. That's what a director does.
Everything that I tell you to do will now have a purpose. The details that I will suggest are crucial to making this movie the way it is meant to be. Just as a poet chooses his words with meticulous care, I will be sculpting this flick into my own artistic expression, the final product representing the themes and motifs that I see fit.
Shoot, I'm missing Heroes...

Mid-Week Report

This is the mid-week report.

-We are planning on getting started really freaking early on Saturday.
-pg 36.
-I'm Listening to DJ Shadow
-I think that I may spice up the set a bit for this next shoot
-Astronauts aren't as cool as Cosmonauts
-Sketch ideas are being pondered but that's really info to go someplace else
-
-That is all, please enjoy your regular programming.


That was the mid week report.

... and then the shooting begins

Well folks "Holy War" is now taking shape from words on a page into images and *cough* sound (inside joke). I feel that this weekend's shoot went very well for an opening weekend of shooting and looked great. For those of you who weren't there here's the lowdown:

We started shooting the first scene that actually takes place inside the radio station at around 2 in the afternoon after spending hours setting up in my inferno basement. After a good 2 hours of shooting we finally finished the first scene. That's when I, the writer/director/sound operator, realized that the shotgun mic which was supposed to be recording the audio never got switched on. After much groaning and slapping of foreheads we took it from the top and re-shot the scene. All we got done yesterday was that scene but that was about what I would have expected to get through with. In retrospect I think everyone there preformed superbly and showed a level of dedication that really amazed me. I really think that if we can continue on the course we blazed yesterday this is going to be a grade-A flick.
Just because we did a good job yesterday doesn't mean certain aspects can't be improved upon. I think that friday meetings are going to be crucial for us to just run through things and make sure that everybody knows what they need to do (Dar I know you have work, I'll make you some notes about what we are going to go over when you aren't there) Obviously we all learned the importance of doing a sound check before we get rolling so that we don't end up shooting any more silent films. I need to also stress the importance for actors to spend time practicing their characters during the week. May I suggest taking your character out to dinner, getting to know them, maybe even falling in love and running away with your character. Whatever floats your boat.
Good job guys and just a reminder next week we will be picking up where we left off (which begins at the top of page 36.)

The Shorts Are A-COMIN!

Hey guys. Just wanted to let you guys know that we recorded our first short a few days ago, and it is currently being edited. As soon as it is ready we will let you know. This will be the first short skit of many to come with our new comedy group, [Insert Name Here]. We will get a regular crew for this, and if you're interested in being a part, please let us know. Peace bruthas and sistas!

Wait... I have a blog?

Hey there ladies and gents. Obviously it’s been quite a while since I last posted anything here and it’s been several weeks since I said that I would put up a schedule, but the wait is over! A very loose shooting schedule is now coming your way. Unfortunately this schedule is probably going to overlap some of your plans so call, text, or pony express me if you need me to change some stuff around. All filming will be done on Saturdays unless otherwise noted. This schedule assumes that you have read through your script and you know what scenes you are in. I’m compiling a list of who is in what scene just in case but it’s not ready yet so if you have any doubts read the script. This is not the full schedule this is only for the next 2 months.

September 13th & 20th: Radio Station scenes EXCLUDING: the scene with the band interviews.

September 27th: Rob’s House scenes.

October 13th: Lair of the Brethren of Musical Perfection scenes

October 18th: Neil’s house scenes, Uncle Larry’s

October 25th: Taco Shack, Park and Front Yard (lemonade stand scene)

Just gimme a call if you can’t make it to a shoot and we’ll fix you up son.
Also give www.indiemogul.com a visit some time. They have some of the best low budget movie making resources and totally deserve their own show on discovery channel.

Peace Out for this week and I’ll keep updating this as I see fit,.

--Kevin

The Blog

Ok, so I decided that this blog looks pretty boring.
Does anyone who knows HTML and CSS want to waste their time helping me make this look better?

Shameless Hype Building Excersize at Insane Antics

http://www.insaneantics.com/blog/?p=15

-Dar Zaccaro

DOUBLE POST!!!

I'm using my administrative powers to post over Dar's post and thank him for hyping us up. Of course that means if we don't get this done we all get to look stupid.

-Kevin

This Weekend

We are going to meet at starbucks at 7:00 pm on friday (sorry it's early I want to catch the 8 o'clock showing of tropic thunder) for a quick meeting to discuss the gameplan for saturday. Everyone is invited to the meeting as always but we are only going to be doing a small scene on saturday (page 2 and half of page 3) this scene is really only a test to see if everything works. But we need to discuss where that scene will take place (because that will be Rob's house when we shoot later scenes) along with other small scene directionsPublish Post.

Blog + Music = Good Idea?

I want to use this blog to pass about the music that is being created by Marcus, Dar and whoever else for Holy War. To do this I think it would be best if I made Marcus and Dar admins on this blog.
how do I do this?
and in the spirit of things I created a little something in my free time that you guys can check out if you want.

http://rapidshare.com/files/135317169/KOMBAT.mp3.html

(don't worry guys, I don't plan on making music for the movie too. that's Marcus and Dar's department. and yeah, I know it sounds like mortal combat)

after you read this read my previous post

Does anybody want to go through the script and compile a full list of characters for me?
I don't wanna, but it's important
much appreciated
-Kevin

Some thoughts and insights

If you read this please leve a comment saying that you read it so that I know who all is informed.

So, yesterday's movie marathon worked probably half as well as I'd planned, but that was to be expected so I would call that a success. we got some stuff done and watched some cool movies and all in all it was pretty fun (with the exception of my inferno basement).
However, the real reason I am writing this is not to inform you guys about something that most of you did yesterday but instead to detail to you about what we will be doing for the next several weeks. Production. In a few days the script will be released to the public so to speak and I need you guys to help market it when that happens (I don't know, post a link on your facebook or something). This way we can draw in enough actors to fill the roles. Once the roles begin to fill up we will begin to shoot the film. everyone needs to have read the script at least once by then, this is crucial. You guys who are acting are allowed to read over your scrips before we shoot (If you choose to have them printed save them on a flash drive and take them to kinkos. They'll print and bind the thing for like 5 bucks.) but NOT FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME. I'm not going to be hiding a copy of the script somewhere for you to read it as we shoot.
a typical filming session will look as follows.
1. Friday evening: meet at starbucks (across from the avenues) and go over the plan for the next day.
2. Saturday Morning: Meet early in the morning (like 8) for breakfast then setup.
3. Saturday Morning: Begin shooting (we will shoot scenes per location so every RADIO STATION scene will be filmed during the same shoot etc.)
4. Saturday whenever we finish shooting: go home.
-- Days off from school are super important. we can shoot even more and get filming over with faster. Try very hard not to be out of town.

Our first planning meeting will be at the Starbucks at 8 pm on Friday. We will be going over the script as well as more info about the filming schedule.

---Remember, leave a reply so I know that you read this.---

IT IS FINISHED

that's right the script's coming in hot off the presses.
Pick up your copy today!

I just figured that I would let you guys know

that the script is half done

The Theme Song

Is going to be something cool.
but for now let's just make a movie.

Movie Marathon for the ages...

This is a test to see if you actually check the blog. place your answers in the comment box.

I need help compiling a list of the best movies going under these categories...

Creative Style

Interesting-ness

Humor (If anyone even mentions one of the "Scary Movie" movies I will personally scoop out their eyeballs and pee in their eye sockets)

Action+style (like the matrix or kill bill)

Acting

Film Technique (the oceans movies or anything else that is creative with camera angles and color contrast)

replayability (movies that you can watch over and over without getting tired of them)

I also need to know everyone's availability to get together and watch these movies

Pre-Production, Production and Post-Production

I figure that it would be good for you guys to see what exactly goes into making a movie on the budget we currently have ($0.47) so I have posted what is my favorite translation of the underground film-makers bible...

http://www.exposure.co.uk/eejit/index.html

it would be cool if you guys, especially those of you involved in the production of the movie, would read some of this. Inside you will find pretty much all of the techniques that I am going to use for my film. (this way we can cut down on the stupid, obvious questions that I usually get asked before I start my movies and everyone goes in informed, making things run more smoothly)

enjoy,

-Kevin

break out the champagne and slip into something a little more comfortable... it's time for act two

Alright. So I got better feedback than I was hoping for from most of you guys last night and that's has me quite excited, it's really nice when something that you create gets accepted better than you expect. I was going to let you guys sit on part one for a few more days and make feeble attempts at concocting an imaginary chapter 2 while you wait for the actual super official one. (I'm getting a little cocky aren't I?) Anyway I couldn't wait any longer to post this, so let's cut the chit chat throw away all cellphone and pagers, dim the lights and slip into something a little more comfortable (and revealing!) because Chapter two... (I'm getting good at building tension I think. I'm going to give you some time to do all those things in my previous sentence, I realize the I was being a bit hasty. you know, not everyone has the time to just sit down and read useless filler sentences while they try to get to the good stuff. It's really rude that a writer would just ramble on and on while his or her (but It had better not be a her. get back in that kitchen and finish my sandwich!) audience is waiting for the meat of that which they are reading.) OFFICIALLY BEGINS AT THE VERY INSTANT THE YOU FINISH READING MY FINAL PUNCTUATION!!!!!!!!!(you had better consciously count all of these and reply in the comment box with the number so that I know you read this) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

HOLY WAR CHAPTER TWO: and so it goes...
when we last saw our heroes they were being stalked by the players, the haters, and Steve. and one of our heroes had made a serious lifestyle change. In the midst of this decision is where we find the fearsome crew...
ONE WEEK LATER...
It has been exactly one week since Rob stopped eating meat and it has been exactly one week since he has been able to do the #2 in the little boys room. concerned about his predicament he asks Chuck for advice. Chuck says that he knows exactly what to do. Chuck takes Rob and Jeremy to the supermarket where they pick up some X-Lax and prune juice. They get to the register when everyone realizes that they left all their cash in their car. Rob and Chuck take-off to go to the car leaving the helpless intern in the store holding laxatives and getting awkward looks. after much awkwardness they return and pay for the laxes. they get to the house, Rob downs a cocktail of bowel-cleaning solutions and stands there waiting just as he begins to say "It's not working" he is cut off by the sound of escaping bowel contents...
quick transition to coffee being poured into a mug that finds it's way into the hands of an executive of some sort who we find out very quickly is the head of some kind of evil offspring of the FCC and RIAA. He begins talking to his cronies about a recent group of violators that have been "Dealt With". Some of his stooges question the rights and wrongs of punishing kids for "playing with radios" and is met with the reply "Nothing is too harsh when you are dealing with media terrorists that will stop at nothing to destroy free enterprise" the two men in black that we saw at the beginning enter the room and bring news of a rather robust group of insurgents. The Boss tells them to send a Juggernaut squad...
we see the next scene through the eyes of a menacing giant who breaks into a pirate broadcast studio and systematically annihilates its screaming occupants...
Meanwhile; back on the ranch, Rob, Chuck, and Jeremy are attending a backyard bash on and enjoyable evening. Jeremy is hollered at by some ladies from across the yard. Instead of approaching them his responses are hollered back. Rob and Chuck are quick to step in and help resolve the awkwardness. realizing that Jeremy is not "girl shy" but instead "girl awkward" they give him their expert advice and head off to mack on some ladies. Jeremy is left to fend for himself and as he takes their advice immediately he bumps into a girl and they have a ridiculous "stare deeply into one another's eyes and introduce themselves moment." (the girls name is unimportant, stick with me...) this initiates a ridiculously cliche falling in love montage set to Beatles imitation music where they do things like ride bikes gaily through the park and get ice-cream etc... and then arrive back at the same party holding hands. "how did we do that so quickly?" the next band get up to play in the bash and low and behold, it is Rob and Chuck's identities raving it up. Jeremy stares in disbelief as they play.The real Rob and Chuck then suddenly come up from behind and ask him who he's with. He is surprised and almost blows their cover but they play it off cool. Later they make the comment that they have become icons and that "just last week a group claiming to be them tried to take down the government..."
A bloody guy escapes the government attack and eventually finds a pay-phone. (impossible by the way.) he calls the station that Rob and Chuck run and tries to warn them of the danger that they are in. They play him off and don't heed the advice. and instead take the next call concerning a half Narwhal-Seal, half Sea lion Shark Walrus. they are fascinated and believe the tale of the Narsealarkus.
Jeremy begins to show up late for work because of "His new love" Rob and Chuck condemn this behavior and forbid him to only go out on Fridays when nothing at all is going on and Mondays because those suck. They also tell him never to call her from the station phone.
The trio see a news report about a band of "terrorists" that ran a pirate radio station and were shut down. Jeremy seems concerned but Rob and Chuck once again play it off and say that those guys were terrorists, which they are not.
Steve confronts Rob and Chuck in a restaurant as they are receiving their food. He eats their food while making threats against them. Rob and Chuck watch him eat as he makes his threats and hold themselves back from getting angry. He states that he has found them out and will "tell on them" they tell him to bring it on as they get up to leave. once they are gone the bill arrives and Steve is stuck with it.
Back in the evil boardroom the boss rants about the two little insurgents with the clever disguises. he get a call that is from Steve. He asks where their studio is , but Steve doesn't know. Steve askes him if they can track phone calls and he says "of course, better than god" Steve says that he may just know some one who can lead them to the studio.
one week later Jeremy is on the studio phone with his new obsession when Rob and Chuck come into the room. They are looking at an invitation that they have received in the mail for a formal party for up and coming pirate radio groups. They decide to go.
They arrive at a vacant location and are puzzled as to where the other guests are. then BAM! it's a set up and they realize it. They duck around a corner as Steve steps out of the shadows doing that thing in "TheWarriors" with the bottles. Then a group of armed men come out of the shadows behind him one of them looks at him and tells him to stop. Around the corner Chuck tells every one to arm themselves with what ever they got. The smash bottles and pick up pipes and step out to confront the men. the first shot of them telling the bad guys to "bring it" has them holding the makeshift weapons. the camera cuts to the bad guys and then back to our heroes who are in the same stance but holding guns. a bloody shootout follows. once all of the humans(minus the good guys and Steve) are dead, the trio point their guns at him and are about to say something when they are all of a sudden interrupted by large footsteps like the T-Rex in Jurassic Park. Steve looks around panicked and says "Juggernauts a-comin, you're all dead. and I'm getting out of here." He runs off in the shadows and two glowing red eyes light up and a robotic voice says "Destroy" Steve screams and during buzz saw noises blood shoots out from the darkness. the Red eyes come out of the shadows attached to a blood stained robot who looks at the gang and says "DESTROY" the movie fades to a gray slow motion as the group charge the robot with guns blazing. their battle cries echo as the screen fades to black.
there is some radio chatter and then static as the camera slowly pans across the studio. Rob and Chuck's radio jingle is played and you see a mouth near a microphone say "This is (secret identities that I haven't come up with yet) we are back on the air the video cuts to show all three of the pirates in the shot and then the screen goes black accompanied with music.
THE END
I hope that you guys like it.
Man, it's one o' clock dang...

The story so far...

[This is going to be a long one bear with it, you signed up for this]

I came up with the concept for part 1 of "Holy War" just kind of out of the blue one of the past hot, lazy, summer days when I was bored out of my mind wasting my time searching for music on the internet. I've always seen movies and music as connected arts, each one benefiting from the other. what would "Apocalypse Now" be without the music? and what would "Thriller" be without it's music video?
I began to think about the different musical styles that I enjoy, and fortunately I am lucky enough to enjoy wide range of genres. (not to be braggy) there's also a huge variety of film styles the same as music. I wondered if there was a perfect match between musical style and film style. What kind of movie would feature namely blues and what kind of camera work would they use for that movie the same goes for Jazz, Techno, Folk Music etc...
Creatively speaking this is the question that I want Part One of "Holy War" to answer. As I said before I wan it to be a mix, a "premium blend" of styles if you will. (and you will)
At the point in time that I came up with my "premium blend" concept I still had no plot in mind whatsoever. this proved to be a pretty big problem when I started pitching my idea to Mr. Marcus Terry. Eventually out of frustration with myself for not being able to come up with anything I BS'd and idea. I said "It's a movie dealing with the members of a pirate radio station" he said something along the lines of "Cool, what the heck is pirate radio?" I realize that this may need to be defined to a generation of people where the iPod effectively killed the radio for good.

Pirate Radio is a lost art form, It is anyone broadcasting illegally without a permit. You see, the government actually owns the invisible spectrum and they auction frequencies to corporations who in turn sell pieces of their purchase to radio stations. Pirate Radio actually involves transmitting over a paid for piece of spectrum and effectively causing a corporation to lose advertising money. Now, usually it is not the intent of a pirate radio station to ruin a corporation, many of them just want to play music, broadcast guerrilla revolutionary political beliefs, etc. generally pirate radio has nothing to do with actual pirates but the first pirate radio was broadcast from a ship that sailed the open sea.

With that thoroughly defined I just realized that I need to define something else before I can give you a summary of my movie. "Holy War" is not just one film, it's a series that I intend to do. right now we are talking about just Part One, but it's only fair that I explain the basic concept of "Holy War"
Humans are a tricky bunch to get along with. We tend to form these concepts in our minds that we hold onto. Tightly. We will fight for them even if it means destroying ourselves and everything around use. Many times these ideas are not even wholesome, they are usually some form of greed that we disguise as something noble. The Crusades are a perfect example of greed disguised as a call from God. Same with the Jihad that is currently being exacted around the world by people who would say that they are on a "Holy Mission" Less obvious examples of "Holy Wars" being raged currently is the RIAA's lawsuits against people who illegally download music off the internets. The RIAA says that they are protecting the interests of the artists that they own but really they are suing for money to go into the coffers of the major record label CEOs. The "Green Movement" is also a Holy War. Obviously polluted air is a problem but by making something like smoke getting into the air out of a factory into an environmental cataclysm that will kill everyone on the planet one thousand times over, people like Al Gore have made millions in personal profits that is not going back into helping the planet. We wage our own Holy Wars in our day to day lives such as criticizing other people for their lifestyle not with the intent to help them but instead to hurt them and make ourselves feel better. in a nutshell, attacking this pattern is what "Holy War" is all about. Ironically enough, I came up with this with the intent of a personal gain; so hypocrite I am, "Holy War" is my own Holy War.

I am sure you are dieing for me to stop with my ill conceived, teenage angst filled philosophies and get to the actual plot of "Holy War: Part I". So, with out further 'ado....

HOLY WAR PART ONE so far...
basically it is about two friends running a pirate radio broadcast after one of them (Rob Weber), has a very bad dream involving pop stars after falling asleep with top 40 playing on his radio. His friend (Chuck McGuinness) pulls him out of his trance by destroying the radio. They decide to run a station that appeals to the musically tasteful.
On the other end of the world two mysterious men in black are killing a violator of American music laws. they beat filled bodybag and fire several rounds into it before leaving it in the desert...
Chuck and Rob enlist the help of Jeremy Hooch a young idealistic "rookie" to help them run the station which they plan to build.
They create secret identities for themselves due to the semi-illegal nature of their venture and plus it just sounds cool.
They "borrow" radio equipment from Chuck's drunk uncle and catch a station pet (chasing stray dogs until eventually settling for a turtle) they set up in Rob's basement.
With a studio created the dynamic duo and their sidekick who is limited to getting them coffee need only one more vital ingredient.... music.
in order to satisfy their need for the largest and most diverse musical collection in existence they consult the "Music Gods" (of their local highschool) and after much deliberation they are presented with "The Key" a high storage jump drive that houses the largest most illegal music collection ever. plus some vinyls that are too sacred to ever be digitized.
after setting up their complete studio Rob and Chuck are introduced to conflict while in the parking lot of their favorite taco joint. The neighborhood drug pusher and all around Jerk-Off Steve, drives up to them and questions weather or not their status is "rollin" when they reply that they are not "rollin" he makes a jab at their sexuality and makes several attempts at parking his car before deciding that that is also of questionable orientation and speeds away.
one month later the station is doing some big business and is getting quite popular. Rob and Chuck's secret radio identities are hailed as "Incredibly Sexy" "Revolutionary" and "possibly the most influential chaps on the radio. even if they are illegal" With this new-found popularity Rob and Chuck branch out and invite local bands to play on their broadcast. Holding to their original founding belief Rob and Chuck invite all forms of musical talent to their studio. in a musical montage of sorts they feature bands that play Ska, Metal, Progressive, Jazz, Metal, Bules, Rap and METAL (this is a stab at the fact that almost every homegrown band these days is, in fact metal, not because I like metal.) in the interview before their performance the final band says that they "try to be as original as possible" when questioned by Rob and Chuck as to what style they lean towards they respond with "Metal mostly" they are asked to leave before they get the chance to play.
Steve grows into an unseen problem, he hates Rob and Chuck for their popularity even though they are not popular and it's their identities that are popular. He finds them out and abuses his powers as a pizza man to get back. His abuse comes in the form of psyclobin mushrooms that happen to wind up on a pizza that Rob's pizza. during the trippy drug sequence that follows the credits run and Ron has the sudden realization that killing animals in order to eat. he introduces this new found philosophy to Chuck and Jeremy who don't really catch on.
there is a brief intermission and then the film picks up for chapter 2.

I think that I will leave you guys with that much tonight and post chapter 2 after I see your responses.

-Kevin

A Movie

That's right, if you are here because of the link that I posted then you are a member of the elite. People that I deem to be creative and diverse is what you are.
You have your talents and areas of expertise that if combined could form an eclectic mix of style.
that's the style that I want my movie "Holy War" to have.

what is "Holy War"?

we'll get to that eventually.

but I need to know if you would be game to help out first.