DEUCE OF SPADES hotrod movie - photos and updates

I feel your pain. I *wrote* the cms that powers my site and still there was a lot of work to write scripts to import ~1000 images in multiple size and all the product details. I can't imagine doing it by hand.

Hey, there's a link to you on my http://www.royaltiki.com/Links now too. All the very best of luck with your new format.

 

Sweet Thanks man! Looks like now you need to start a new section on your links page: HOTROD MOVIES (cause they're BACK!) hehehehehehehe...

 

STEADICAM? Did I hear STEADICAM????

Oh yessss.... You're ON!

 

UPDATES

Didn't go to El Mirage this week-end because of the high winds and also because of the format upgrade. No more filming until I get the new gear. Basically I spent all week-end watching as many of my DVD intructional videos as I could. I am moving fast and absorbing an obcene amount of vital information. All of which makes sense, some of which i was already doing, just didn't know I was, guess I do have good instincts.

I then watched a movie and paid attention to how they framed, moved cameras, placed extras, and could identify all the tricks, moves, from my lessons. Open framing, close framing, internal reverse, external reverse, coverage, DOF, Long lense, space compression, wide lense, deep staging, dolly moves, pans, macro lenses, lighting, third party plugins, color correction, parallax... Listen to me I almost sound like a pro now! Well, I only have , like, 3000 more years and lessons to go! but I'm getting there (fast).

And to think that merely 6 months ago, I was just an innocent little hotrod girl, cruising in her deuce, with the wind in my hair and bugs in my teeth... Ahhh to be young and carefree again...

Sunday I stayed home all day and in my pijamas. Boy did that feel GOOOOD. hang out with my Blue Healer and watched more lessons, posted on my DVX forum and gathered more technical information I need right now to make the big jump. My Blue healer sure was happy to have me all to herself. I slept a lot (2 naps that day). Needed it.

PHOTOS

Here is my Blue Healer Kaya. I rescued her from Euthanasia when she was 5 months old. She is the smartest dog I know, she also is the most protective one. I have trained her daily for 2 years straight and she knows over 60 commands and tricks. She is amazing!



This is Kaya getting ready for dinner



Here is a photo of the two compadres



here is Kaya in action




Here is Kaya in agility training. She bites so I have to keep the muzzle on her while training around people.



This is Kaya wanting to eat the photographer


we have done a lot of traveling / camping together



She's my best bud.



OK, so what does that have to do with hotrods and with the film? Well, Kaya was one of the actors in the film (no, this is for real now), but regretably her scene was one of the scene that got deleted because the film was too long. In the scene she was a dog guarding a salvage yard with old cars in it and she chased after me and attacked when I "innadvertantly" jumped over the fence . It was a cool scene but now it is gone. She is still pissed off about that!

Here are a couple of silly , but cute, videos showing her doing a couple cute tricks:

KAYA BRINGS ME MY SLEEPERS IN THE MORNING

http://www.zippyvideos.com/6608169335585506/kaya_the_wonderdog_earns_her_breakfast/


KAYA PLAYS NURSE

http://www.zippyvideos.com/6727402045368216/dog_nurse/

 

UPDATES

Good morning everyone! I'll keep it short this morning cause I have to head out to work. Things are on track, currently looking for a director of photography to help with lighting and some of the camera work (since I have to be in front of the camera in many scenes, it makes it challenging to be on both sides at the same time). Also getting quotes for the new camera with the help of a dear friend, and fellow hotrodder, who has a big production company. What would I do without my hotrods friends? This is what is so cool, that we are going to make this hotrod film happen. Not Hollywood. US hotrodders, each bringing in to the table what they can.

This has been an amazing adventure and seeing all the pieces of the puzzle coming together has made all the hard work and time invested so far well worth it!!

I WOULD TO TO THANK AGAIN ALL THOSE HOW HAVE PARTICIPATED IN ANY WAY. All those who have offered their cars, vintage bikes, art, original music, props, locations, shops, homes, offices, restaurants, land, period correct sets, period gas stations, diners, airstrips... Those who have offered with help, advice... Those who have offered their talent, musicians, swing dancers, pinstripers, painters, graphic artists, actors, airplane pilots, drivers... Those who have helped with historical research advice, consultants, curators, writers, old timers.... Those who have contributed with their name, such as the Hall of Famers and known celebrities who kindly accpeted cameo parts in the film. And of course, those who have contributed to the filming funds...

As Pre-Production is coming to an end I look back at how far along we are and all I can say is I am 1)- grateful and 2)- Proud of what we have accomplished so far, on a NO budget! And yes, we still have a long way to go but we are off to a good start!

PHOTOS



As promised, this is the fourth shot from that polka dot dress photoshoot.

 

Very sexy lady.

 

Faith I've been checking on this thread pretty regular and am really looking forward to this movie.I'm sure your going to make it happen with your dedication.My dad had a blue heeler looked just like your's was a real smart dog.Just hang in there your hard work is gonna pay off,and I don't think you'll have any trouble finding a couch to sleep on!

 

Faith,you've earned that "pajama day".Hope all is well,where you are,in Cali.

 

that was funny! thanks for the support man...

 

AGHHHHHH

I am afraid I have some bad news. I was very sad to learn yesterday that Dr. Chang, who donated his private airstrip for our movie, had his house and parts of his property burn down in Agua Dulce. He said the fire started right near him and in the first hour marched through his land, burning his lovely home down to the ground.

Our airstrip is charcoal.

I was mostly upset for Dr. Chang to lose his home. He is a nice man and I was hoping the fire would spare him. The good news is his hangar, two planes and 34 ford were untouched by the flames.

So where does that leave us with our dragstrip scene? Not sure, I'll have to assess it by year end.

PHOTOS

I thought I would share a few of the cars that may appear in the film. Most are 1955 or older but a few are 1955 - 1960 as I have flashbacks all the way up to 1960.

So I'll post a couple each day, many of these cars are from HAMB members so you might recognize your own cars

WANT TO HAVE YOUR CAR IN THE FILM? We'd love to have it, must be period correct 1960 or earlier, hotrod, stock or custom. No flames please. Some modern components OK (ex: Radials), we can still use you further in the background. You must be local to So CAL.


To "enroll" your baby in the film click here , and email me your contact name, contact numbers, the city you live in and year/model/make of your car(s).




Note that cars with modern stuff on them will be placed in such a way to not see what is not period correct (framing work). Also many of the owners have spare bias plys / steel wheels which they will shlap on their cars when time comes to shoot.




This is a cool car, a repro of a known race car from that era. We will provide the proper license plates for the era.

 

Here is Kaya in agility training. She bites so I have to keep the muzzle on her while training around people

Can't you teach her not to bite??

 

If I can change a man, I can teach Kaya to not bite people who come near me.

Don't hold your breath!

 

UPDATES

It was an all day project but it is now official:

UNFRAMED LARGE POSTERS ARE NOW AVAILABLE.

See them here:

http://www.cafepress.com/deuceofspades

I made as many different ones as I could, so you have lots to pick from. They are pretty big, unframed, perfect to shlap on a garage wall. If you like them please support the movie and buy one, the profits go directly to fund the filming and I'd be lying if I said I don't need the money right now. So I guess do what you can and thanks for your support.

 

Oh, you can change a man - it just takes the right tools. One of which, I believe, is a hammer.

~Jason

 

OMG, I just fell off my chair laughing !! Thanks man, I love a good laugh.

 

UPDATES

left work at 6:30 and went home, sat down in front of my TV to watch my camera move lesson... And fell asleep. I kept waking up , try to watch butmy eyes kept closing and I would drift back to sleep.

So I went to bed at 8PM. Slept like alog. Woke up at 3:30AM all perky. Got up and sat back down in from of the TV and this time SUCCESS! Knocked out a bunch of lessons. I am done with stationary blocking, completed pans, digested Dolly moves and now learning crane work.

Yeah right! Like I would ever be able to have a crane on my (lack of) set. But it's good to learn.

As of yesterday I am CAMERALESS . I feel so vulnerable.... Emotionally fragile right now....

I must admit parting with DVX-100B camera was a bit hard. It was like a little of me was still captured inside the camera... But it went to good guys, they do music videos, can't go wrong with that! Two interns came by my work and gave me cash for it. Then the founder of the company later contacted me, sharing his love of hotrods with me... I guess they told him about DOS. Does ANYONE NOT LOVE hotrods?

Geese... Just the other day I paced my online order my LETUS 35 mm adapter and had some tech questions so emailed them. Surely enough when the techs find out about DOS and they go on and on about how much they love cars and hotrods... I get great help and they already placed a link on their website to my movie site.

This rocks.

PHOTOS

Well, here are a few more DOS cars and hotrods for all of you car nutts out there! I am sharing these photos in no particular order. It is very likely that many of these cars will end up in the film.



Watch out Johnny Looks what's on your ass! (but not for long HAHA!)



Note: A Police car has not yet been confirmed for the film, but i do now have the complete list of all privately owned 50's cop cars in my area so I hope to get at least one, but maybe more than one, cop car.

 

No problem - 's what I do.

By the way, I actually follow this thread every day!

...and you have some weird-ass hours, girl. Damn. And don't feel bad about selling your Panasonic... Granted, it would shoot in 24 or 30 fps, which was cool, but it didn't even have a true 16:9 CCD anyway! Come on!

What are you shooting with now?

Oh, and you should rent one of these to use as a crane:
http://www.snorkelusa.com/

There's big ones, and little ones, the latter of which is right up your alley. You can stand in the bucket, and I believe there's a joystick in it that allows you to go up, down, and drive the thing from up there, too! I've seen 'en at different rental places around here.

~Jason

 

Does that blue shoebox belong to Rob from temecula?

 

ah yes the blue healer- another Australian icon, RRREEAALL CUTE, oh and nice dog too!

 

Most blue healer have a biting problem. At least thats what humans say. They were bread as live stock dogs and they nip at the heals of the live stock to get them moving. Definately one of the smartest breads. Ita a hard instinct to break.

 

Thanks Faith, those are perfect. I already added mine to my Christmas list at my friends site www.WhatIWantMost.com (yeah, blatant plug!)

 

Yep, put me in one of these with a joy stick and cut me loose and it owud make for hours of fun! I can already see myself going up and down and up and down and up and down... And... Until the motor fries ... I'm a big kid and it doesn't take much to amuse me .

But seriously, yes I have thought about these devices before. May be in deed used for a few scenes that call for "aerial" shots.

 

Ahhhh a man after my own heart, (how appreciate the dingo dog)...

I started training her to "snap" on command for that scene... Even though the scene has been cut out of the film, I am still enjoying perfecting her "snap" so we practice it every day.

 

Not sure dahling, I'd have to check my database records... BTW met a guy last friday at BBB that has a car almost identical to yours (same year make model and same grey primer color). At first when I saw it I thought you were at BBB for a second... But then went "Nah! he lives too far!"

hey I did Tommy's character slide today, It's very cool, I'm going to email it to you right now.

 

Out of curiosity , which one did you pick? Post the small photo please so I can see...

 

Their refurb place (Snorkel) is across the river from St. Joe on the KS side. They have about a million of them in their lot, looking like dinosaurs staring at the sky...

~Jason

 

UPDATES

Just another morning...

Hopped in the DOS this morning and hit the start button and the engine fired up right away. The race cam rocks me as the roadster warms up. I pull out of the garage and drive down to the local bagel place. I can tell I have been coming here for a long time because when I pour my French roast coffee, they immediately go and pull out the milk from their fridge and hand it to me. I don't even have to ask for it anymore . It's nice when people read your mind. When you don't have to say words anymore. I feel at home here.

The mexican ladies are sitting down and as always they are having a blast, talking, laughing, gesturing, laughing some more. They are always laughing, like me... I can't understand a word they are saying but I love how their laughter resonates in the early morning. They are full of life and always happy. I want to sit down with them and share in their laughter, but I don't speak the language so I just smile as I walk by their table. I can tell they are not 'rich' but they are wealthy in soul, heart and abondance of life. I really love them.

And then there is Gerry, the white hair senior, sitting in the far back corner, alone, as always. He is quiet and seems lost in his thoughts... I know he is in pain. He tries to hide it. He had this major car crash ten years ago and never has been the same since. He gets these major headaches that won't go away... So I make it a point to walk to the back and give him a hug and talk to him for a while.

I walk out with my coffee and the usual stranger walks up to me with a smile:

"Love your car!"

I pull out of the crowded parking lot. A woman driving a minivan, taking her kids to school, zips by. She looks tense. She is talking on her cell phone, probably to her best girlfriend, probably bitchin about her husband, what he did or did not do... And I think to myself, I am lucky I don't have any of those, a minivan, kids, a girlfriend or even a husband to bitch about.

It's just me and the deuce. Free like the wind... We drive off and hit a big puddle of water and I suddenly floor it and the deuce dances for a while in the early morning sunlight. The bias plys are spinning but we are going nowhere, except maybe, a little sideways... I laugh and drive off. It's going to be a good day and I am grateful to get to live it.

PHOTOS:

 

Ya know, Faith ..... I was just listening to Devil Doll's new CD,
"The Return of Eve"
& there is a track on it (#12) called "Queen of the Road"....
I thought of you when I heard it.
You gotta listen to it !