Floating in a most peculiar way...

Don't ask me what my fixation is with "Space Oddity" lyrics for the blog titles - I guess it's because I've been listening to and relearning a bunch of Bowie songs. Why? Don't know, actually - but for whatever reason glam-era Thin White Duke has been striking a chord in me lately. But I digress...

The storm passed up with little fanfare or effect (save for the fact that we waited in line at Chacho's for an hour to order because it was one of the only plaes with the balls and foresight to open), so we are ready to go for this final weekend of shooting. Thursday we shoot the first bar scene (where the character of BEN dies - oops...SPOILER), and then Friday through Sunday we are on the road. Friday and Saturday we are at the cave, and Sunday we are in New Ulm to do all of the forest stuff.

Over the weekend (while I was bored because everyone high-tailed it out of town) I finished up the official movie site. I'm still updating regularly, so it will probably be in flux until I get the first trailer cut. We also got some press on Bloody-Disgusting.com, as well as on Horror Movies and Madness. Nice. I talked with Shaun/Mike/Jeff a few times over the weekend (they called and emailed to make sure I was okay - well, to make sure the master tapes were okay, actually - but you get the idea), and I found out that Drawing Blood has secured North American distribution. Which means you'll hopefully be able to see the move we shot in Chicago last year in your local video store. We're also talking about getting a website going for that movie, as well as a site for the entire Tripod Films back catalog: The After School Special, My Brother's Light, and The Dirty Immigrants: All For One.

It's an exciting time, to say the least.

Riders on the Storm

So I'm weathering the hurricane at the homestead. The house is boarded up, I've got firepower to protect me from looters/zombies, and I'm about to duct tape the Witchcraft 13 tapes to my chest.

Hopefully this meteorological cluster-fuck won't totally screw up next week's shoot at the cave. I guess we'll see what happens.

In better news, I've been plugging away at the website: http://www.witchcraft13.com. The lack of anything to do or anywhere to go is giving me a lot of time to program the site, so maybe I'll get it done before the electricity and internet go and I'm plunged back into the Cretaceous.

I think my spaceship knows which way to go...

It's been a few days, I know. This past week we did some extra makeups for victims in the movie that I'll cut away to for shock value. Those shots will probably be up on the WC13 site when it goes live. Friday night we shot the opening of the movie with Cesar and Anjanette:

http://www.subsociety.net/gallery/WC13_8/

The first kill should be a stylish and entertaining one. The edible hearts translated pretty well on screen. Yet another killer job by Ashley Frazier - Makeup Artist Extraordinaire.

Saturday we shot a short scene at my place (the "Ordinary House" location), and then went and killed the frat boys at Matt/Woody/Domingo's apartment complex. Notice the plastic that we had to put up to contain the arterial spray. Nice.

http://www.subsociety.net/gallery/WC13_9/

Sunday we returned to the office to shoot the scenes with the cops - those pics should be up soon. We actually got done early last night, and Melanie and I were able to catch dinner with Cesar befor he headed back to the Left Coast.

I'm alternately cripplingly tired and exhilarated these days in regards to the film. Due to disloyalty, ennui, lack of focus or lack of drive, I'm once again forced into wearing the hats of director, producer, assistant director, gaffer, production manager (and occasionally director of photography and sound recordist) all at once. This week I think I might add makeup artist to that for a gag I'm setting up, but that's my own damn fault. At any rate, it's a lot to deal with - then of course you have people get too sensitive and bristle when you get serious and critical with them, which of course makes me seem like a cock. I have to admit that I get into that to a certain degree because due to my nature, it's a lot easier for me to be an asshole than to be nice. I guess I can't worry about hurt feelings at this point - we need to get this movie done. I'm slowly learning a valuable lesson though - next time I'll probably hire professionals and put myself in the hole a little more just to forgo all the bullshit that goes along with working with your buddies/friends/girlfriends. I've already started taking people off of the IMDb page that haven't been fulfilling their duties, and you can rest assured that the movie credits will reflect that as well. I guess I should have learned the "don't work with your buddies" lesson on 'Fade To Black', but I attributed those experiences to the relative green-ness of everyone on the cast and crew, myself included. It's a different story now - I've done this a few times, and I'm getting pretty tired of having to put everyone else on the learning curve.

I'm sure there are people on the crew that want to punch me in the face at times - and I bet those same people think they could make a better movie under the same constraints.

Either one of those would be a neat trick.

Working for the Weekend (sort of)

This past weekend we didn't do any shooting for Witchcraft 13, but we ("we" being myself and Domingo) did travel to New Ulm, Texas to help Richard (WC13 location manager) finish shooting his short horror movie entitled O.M.R. We arrived on Friday afternoon and began setting up. Of course, I started to come down with a pretty wicked cold on Thursday, and by Friday it was in full effect. We began shooting once everyone got there (about 8 PM or so), and went through a few shots, some of which were kill scenes. Blood-filled condoms are always a sure-fire recipe for fun. Sick though I was, we got through it, and got done about 4 AM.

Unfortunately, I had to drive back in for a meeting Saturday morning, and then drive back out to New Ulm on Saturday afternoon, so I got home about 5:15 AM. Woke up about 2 hours later and handled my business, then headed out to New Ulm again to shoot some more. In my absence, Domingo was the fill-in director, and he seemed to have done a good job. Once I arrived we shot a jump scare and an assault/lynching scene that was pretty choice. I was still feeling crummy, but the entire O.M.R. gang was so gracious to us throughout the shoot that it made things a lot easier to get through. People were constantly thanking us for coming out and shooting on our weekend off from WC13. Gratitude is not something I'm used to (only blame - especially if it's something having to do to with an access television show), so it was nice to have people simply say "thank you" for once.

After the shenanigans we ate ribs, I regaled the crowd with some Embarassing Mel Stories (TM), we talked about a lot of eighties television, and then watched the Dukes of Hazzard pilot. I fell asleep in my sleeping bag about 2 am, woke up about 7:30, packed up the equipment, helped clean up, ate breakfast, came home and slept for a while longer. Then of course, I got up and started working on this coming weeks shoot schedule and shot list for WC13. It should be a good bloody week - we're doing some insert deaths on Wednesday night (mainly for some insert shots), and then the big intro kill scene on Friday night.

Day 7 Pictures

http://www.subsociety.net/gallery/WC13_7/

Whew - it's patently obvious that I need a haircut.

Also, the horror-movies.ca site has posted some pictures from the set:

http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_4448.html

This week is laid back, as we are sort of taking the week off of shooting WC13 to help Richard Boatto finish shooting his movie 'O.M.R'. We start WC13 again next weekend.

Interview With The Melpire

The aforementioned interview is up:

http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_4432.html

What's Tha Deal ?!?

Whew. Four days of some type of shooting or another in a row. Let's recap:

Friday night was our first shoot at the office location (Spanner's Office). We shot the scene where we are introduced to Will Spanner in this entry (and subsequently set up Laura's [Falin Profitt] character goals), plus two more scenes involving Will and Laura - one of which is somewhat of a "love scene". More of a dream sequence, really. Everything turned out well, and we were done by midnight-ish. Here are the photos, courtesy of Kenneth Haner:

http://www.subsociety.net/gallery/WC13_4/

Saturday we met up for a quick shot of Spanner entering Eldridge's house. For the exterior of this shot, we used Director of Photography Will Molina's apartment building. The' Witchcraft 13 Curse' was in full effect - as we pulled up to the house, some guy fell off of the roof. Why was there a guy on the roof, you ask? Because the crackheads that live in the apartment next to Will had set their apartment on fire the previous evening, and while Will was sleeping soundly at his girlfriend's house, back at home his door was being kicked in by the fire department. Nothing was missing or damaged, except for the door frame (and the smell of smoke that permeates the place). After investigating the damage, we got the shot.

Since shooting began, this brings our current 'WC13 Curse' count to:

1. Me being broke (near-destitute)
2. Domingo's car breaks down
3. Joel gets shingles
4. Will's apartment nearly burns down
5. My truck gets sideswiped by some rich girl in daddy's BMW
6. Will's tire explodes
7. Two separations and one pregnancy among the cast and crew

And who said doing the 13th entry in a mildly Satanic series revolving around witchcraft was unlucky?

Later that evening, Domingo had a small get together at his apartment poolside. A few of us showed up and we didn't manage to break anything or get sunburned over the course of the party. Nice to be able to unwind a little.

Sunday's short shoot just might make the movie. We just shot a short insert scene of Keeley (Roxy Vandiver) being revealed in the bedroom window as Will and Dolores are having the sexual relations. It's set up as a bit of a shock, and it came off quite well, especially considering we had to deal with actor nudity, blood, fake rain, and simulated lightning. What happened was this: last week, it actually started raining for real while we were shooting at the 'Dolores' House' location - and you can hear it and see it on the footage. So...I had to think of a way to maybe tie the rain in somehow, and visually reference it later in the movie - this led to me thinking "what if someone were in the rain outside?", and then "what if someone were in the rain outside covered in blood?" and so on and so forth. Roxy was very cool with all the weird shit I wanted her to do - like be naked and covered in blood - and it turned out phenomenal. She's definitely a huge asset to this movie, that's for sure. We'll have to find a way to involve her in the next one. Here are pictures of the scene - there's nakedness and gore in most of them, so be warned:

http://www.subsociety.net/gallery/WC13_6/

Today, we shot the remainder of the office footage (with the exception of the shots involving the cops - that's later). Everything went smoothly with that - we began at 12 noon and ended about 3 PM. Now we're getting on the Mel House Shooting Schedule (TM). This coming weekend, we help Richard shoot O.M.R. in New Ulm, and then next weekend it's back to WC13. When next we shoot (September 16), it will be a few gory death setpieces. I can't wait.

My public

I just did my first interview.

Look for it to be on http://horror-movies.ca/ sometime next week.

SSDD

We may be doing reshoots this weekend along with all of the office stuff. Deceptively easy stuff.

I found out that I'm not getting the money I'm owed on this paycheck either - which should make for an interesting weekend of shooting.

Also found out that our lodging for the cave weekend was booked out from under us, so now we have to find an alternate (read: more expensive) housing option for that weekend. Barrels of fun.

And in other news, I will probably be busting heads at Screamworld once again this year. I think our esteemed Director of Photography, Will Molina, will be joining us. I'll need the extra scratch to dig myself out of this hole that I'm in.

But I'm still having fun, of course.

The Quickening

I think I finally may have recovered from this weekend - the physical part of it at least. Mentally, I can still feel the scars of remaining fatigue. The first three days of shooting were rough - no doubt about it, with all the stuff that went down: the family showing up, the flash storm, the Mutiny On The Bounty shit...but I took it all on the chin and kept plugging through it with the help of the crew. Special thanks go to Domingo, Oliver, and Kenny - they actually are transcending the petty title of "grip"...maybe I'll invent something new for them once the info starts going up on the IMDb.

I've looked at all the footage we shot over the weekend, and for the most part I'm pretty happy with it. Still on the fence about a few shots and performances, so reshoots/pickups are a possibility - unfortunately the whole "delegation" thing hasn't really panned out yet, so I still have to wear all of the hats at one time or another, and I can't always concentrate on the real "director-y" things as much as I'd like. I think some of the scenes suffered as a result. Thing is, if I wasn't the one-man band at times, then there's no way that we would have gotten finished with everything. Hopefully things will straighten out over this weekend - we defnitely cannot waste time at the bars and the cave (which I found out a few days ago that we have to pay an hourly fee for - not a whole lot, mind you, but I'm not exactly rolling in dough right now). I think it's hard for some of the crew to understand the restraints/requirements of indie filmmaking - a lot of the urgency is lost on them. I guess that's something you learn working on independent films (like I have - many times), but I really would rather not be someone else's learning experience - not with my ass on the line as much as it is on this picture. Well...like Jonah says: "I'll get through it/I'll get through it/...Better than this."

This weekend - we shoot all of the Spanner office scenes, and maybe (big maybe) some of the aforementioned reshoots. The office stuff should be a breeze. Should be. I guess we'll see about that, won't we?

I know I sound bitter and tempermental - I am under a great deal of stress (some that I feel is unnecessary) - but there's nothing in the world that I'd rather be doing. Well, maybe directing A Nightmare On Elm Street 9, but you know what I mean.

Here are some pictures from the first few days. Big ups to Kenny Haner for taking them and posting them on his site.

Day 1

http://www.subsociety.net/gallery/WC13_1/index.html

Day 2

http://www.subsociety.net/gallery/WC13_2/

Day 3

http://www.subsociety.net/gallery/WC13_3/

Four To Go

The whirlwind first weekend at Debbie and Raoul's house is now behind us, and with some distance I feel pretty good about it - especially the stuff from last night. Maybe the whole sex stuff just psyched me out subconsciously, because once we started doing straight dialogue and attacks and gore, I had hit my rhythm. Let me try to recap:

SATURDAY

We started Saturday night at about 6 PM. Scenes to be shot were all the scenes at Dolores' House, including the dinner/sex scene. We shot the lead-up, and a later scene (the "your brother's dead" scene - oops, SPOILER), and then moved to the back-and-forth with the two cops GENTRY and WHITE. The transition shot to that scene was pretty grueling and time consuming to set up - a dolly/crane shot on a canted Heights street from the location to a parked car further down the side of the street. It took a few tries, but it's a shot I really wanted, and I think we got it. The camera/grip crew and the gaffer team (they overlap a lot - heh heh) did an excellent job on finally nailing down that shot. So we got the cop stuff, and then moved inside for the unskinny bop.

Once inside, we shot the sex scene for Dolores and Will. It turned out pretty well, and was hot without being pornographic. At the end of that, we then shot the remainder of shots that we did not get on Friday night (mainly the magic battle between Will and Keely. Final wrap time: 6 AM. Ugh. But we got it all done, and we got to throw Tim against a wall, and see Roxy teleport and throw lightning. Big shout out to the cast and crew for sticking with me until the end there.

SUNDAY

Sunday was supposed to be pretty easy...and it was, considering how Saturday went. We had a simple dialogue scene with Eldridge and Will, and then the Eldridge's death scene. The first monkey wrench is that an evacuating family from New Orleans (with a dog, and a baby, and a small child) had to come crash at the house we were shooting at (they're relatives of the owners). The dialogue scene took way longer than it should have because of some tension on the set, and the recurring noise from above family. I had to pull rank and step in as DP and gaffer for the one scene just to get it done, but we did get it done, in the traditional Mel House run-and-gun shooting style (thank you again, Rebel Without A Crew). By the end of that shoot we had all the shots I'll need, and we were back on schedule. After I talked to some of the crew a bit, the tensions were eased (at least for the rest of Sunday). I think the Hickory Hollow barbecue that our Location Manager Richard got helped morale a bit, too. Thanks a bunch, Rich. While the got the food, we started to shoot the scene where Leandra (Anjanette Clewis) attacks Eldridge. We choreographed it a few times and then knocked it out so that Anjanette could get back to Dallas for work on Monday. It came out well, I think.

We took a break to eat, then Steven Scott (Eldridge) got his gore on for the death scene. Our makeup artist, Ashley Frazier, did a killer job on that stuff. It looked nasty as hell. Exactly what I wanted. We shot Eldridge's dead body, and Spanner's discovery of said corpse, and then we were done. It took about an hour and a half to pack up and get out (Raoul was coming home later that night, plus they had two more evacuating families on the way). We got out by about 11:30, and I crashed by 12:30. Not too bad, considering. Most importantly, the footage looks good.

The Day After

Still unsure about how the first day of shooting went. We only got about halfway done with what I intended with my shotlist. I think the problem is that the crew is running inefficiently. There was way too much downtime and screwing around for my tastes. Maybe it will just take a while to get into the groove.

I can already catch whiffs of "too many cooks" syndrome as well. I need to talk to everyone about the fact that this is really not a democracy (although I thought that was patently clear) from the get-go. I don't want your input unless I ask for it. Everyone's got their ideas, and it's cool once in a while, but it starts to happen too much and BAM you only get half of your shotlist done because you're wasting time. I know it sounds dickish, but I've already seen it happen on many other movie sets - and it happened a lot last night.

With all that said, the stuff we did get in the can looked pretty damn good. Lots of cool lighting schema, and the performances were great. Will (Tim) and Keely (Roxy) kick ass.

This afternoon we shoot the Dolores scenes and some of the cops dialogue.

Christmas At Ground Zero

Tonight's the night. We start shooting around 6:30-7 PM. Last night's blocking went really well - the sex will be hot, the magic will be ...magical (?)

I also got a final call from the Chicago producer/writer team just to go over some last minute things. They seem pretty stoked about what they've seen so far (all merely tests), so that makes me feel pretty confident. Although...seeing Witchcraft X made me feel pretty confident, too. We also went over the final contracts and they sent me everything via email at the end of the night. Contracts = Legitimacy.

Next week's shoot is coming together as well as the two bar scenes. Slowly but surely the schedule is becoming a lock.

24

Tomorrow is the big inagural first day of shooting. Tonight, WILL and KEELY are coming over to block out their big sexual encounter/magic battle. We're also doing some preliminary shot blocking and audio tests. Now i'm just ready to get started.

Mike Wolinski told me that two horror news sites should be contacting us for interviews - one of which will be a set visit. Nice. Now if we can just secure a panel at a Fangoria Weekend Of Horrors, then I can die a happy man.

Just read that 'Superman Returns' is about to take a five-week hiatus. I'm completely shooting a movie in the time it takes them to "recharge their batteries" or chase wallabies, or whatever it is they're doing over there. Crazy.

Soothing The Savage Beast

Thank God for the new Coheed and Cambria and Cave-In records. They dampen my ever-increasing urge to kill.

Rehearsal with Will and Laura tonight, then immediately afterwards with Officers Gentry and White.

I also finished doing my shot breakdown of the script - exactly 666 shots.

Okay, not really, but wouldn't that be synchronicity? There are actually 450 shots all told. Now the storyboarding.

Down In A Hole

Last night we tested out the "Ollie Dolly". Works like a champ. Que chevre, Oliver. We will definitely overuse that piece of equipment. Actually, I don't think there was a single moving camera shot in any of the other 'Witchcraft' films. Here's to making our mark on the series through stylistic indulgence.

Afterwards, I met up with Richard to scout out our potential bar scene location. Nice place, with lots of ambiance. Hopefully things will work out with the negotiations (looking good, for once).

Today I went to Texcam to get some gaffers tape and party gels - as usual, they were pretty standoffish, and acted like I was putting them out with my business. Viva La Houston Indie Spirit. And people wonder about "production flight" when just about every person you have to deal with in a industry-related business is as self-important as the pricks at Texcam. Too bad they're the only game in town when it comes to production expendables. Next time, I'm hitting the internet.

After that, I hit the Salvation Army for some wardrobe. The thrift store finery did not disappoint, and I've successfully clothed most of the scenes for this weekend. Cheap though it may have been, I'm still spending money that I shouldn't be, especially in light of the fact that I'm probably never going to see the money that my employer owes me. This movie is going to drive me into destitution for sure.

I just watched Bryan Singer's Comicon footage for 'Superman Returns' for some moral support/inspiration. I'm not crazy about Brandon Routh, but the scene with the "Superman Fanfare" theme underscoring it gave me the nerd-vapors. Having something like that as a light at the end of the tunnel definitely helps me get through this minefield.

The Final Countdown

Unless someone else sells me out, here's how we're officially rolling this week:

Cast:

Will Spanner - Tim Wrobel
Dolores Stevens - Jennifer LeFleur
Laura - Falin Profitt
Eldridge - Steven Scott
Officer Gentry - Lynn Michaels
Officer White - Richard Flood
Ben - Josh Sykora
Skylar - Zoe Hunter
Leandra - Denise Clewis
Keeley - Roxy Vandiver
Clive - Cesar Castillo
Lonely Man - Thomas Kurzy

Crew:

Director/Editor/Producer - Mel House
Director Of Photography - Will Molina
Key Grip - Domingo Baragan
Best Boy - Oliver Nieto
Location Sound - Mike Canales
Location Manager - Richard Boatto
Makeup - Sarah Ali
Special Makeup Effects - Ashley Frazier
Digital Special Effects - Russell Baldonado

Saturdays of Thunder

Woke up pretty early yesterday and met up with Oliver so that we could gt some materials for the "Ollie Dolly". I also picked up a few things for the "Vomit Cam" setup, and I hunted down a few of the groundless-to-grounded AC adapters later in the day. We need those for the cave shoot, as the only AC plugs they have are groundless. Hello subterranean fire that kills 20.

After that, Domingo and I went on a quest for the necklaces/insignias that feature prominently into the plot. After receiving a tip from Roxy (one of the witches-to-be), we headed out to Spencer's Gifts in the mall. Lo and behold, they had quasi-wiccan jewelry on the cheap. So now, that plot point is taken care of.

Also got final confirmation from the witch-to-be that lives in New York. She's booked her flight to come down. So all the cast is set - hopefully.

I'm getting used to daily betrayal and the undermining of my confidence in people. I'm starting to believe that it's just an occupational hazard that I have to deal with. At least now it's coming from unexpected places - that spices things up a bit.

Breaking The Broken

Domingo just called me a little while ago and told me he bought some of the effect contact lenses that I could not afford to get for next week's shoot. Him doing that probably will result in a few unpaid bills on his part. Of course, the gesture is much appreciated. It's not that Domingo had to do that, rather, it's the fact that he took a hit because he knew it would improve the quality of the movie. Awesome. Good to know some people are still selfless when it comes down to it.

MINOR DIGRESSION - In case you're wondering why I'm trying to make a movie with a negative bank account balance (I've alluded to this but never explained)...long story short: In April I recieved a title change at work, which was more or less a promotion. With said promotion/title change came much more travel (in addition to the 60 mile roundtrip I already make 5 days a week). I was also supposed to start recieving commission, because my new job title also includes sales aspects along with the production duties (basically this was going to be my raise). I still have not recieved one nickel of the commission that I was supposed to have begun receiving in May. Which puts me at about a $2300 loss at last count. Now combine that with this movie (which is forced to start earlier than expected, before financing is fully in place), and the wedding stuff that I have to pay for, and you get one big financial shit sandwich. So that's where all the "I'm so broke" stuff comes from.

"So why are you doing a movie if you're broke?"

Are you fucking kidding me? I'd rather go broke doing this and hope for the eventual payoff, then live a comfortable, monotony-driven existence hoping for the (unlikely) eventual break to come along.

So the moral of the story? Will - you need to pay my car note for me. Come on man, I know you read this. Take one for the team.

Afro-Latino Engineering

Now we get into the really indie filmmaking stuff. With shooting starting next week, and my job screwing me out of a lot of money, we are starting to construct some things ourselves. Oliver, Domingo, and I are going to build a skateboard dolly (the kind that runs on PVC pipe) this weekend, as well as finish my design for a "vomit cam" (basically a camera that spins on a tight axis on the horizontal plane - to be used for the magic battles). We may even attempt a home-made handheld camera stabilizer (Steadicam) if we have it in us. Hopefully everything will work out, and I won't lose any fingers in the process. At the very least it will make some interesting DVD commentary, and at best we'll join the likes of Raimi, Jackson, and Rodriguez in the halls of the Home Made Camera Support Pantheon. Big thanks to http://www.homebuiltstabilizers.com for all the ideas and diagrams.