DEUCE OF SPADES hotrod movie - photos and updates

PHOTOS!!!!

JIM JUST SENT ME SOME PHOTOS. So here they are (remember this is just an audition - the actors were just asked to come in jeans and white T-shirt, some did better than others at trying to get close to a 50's look. But at least they tried - so please refrain from criticizing them, thank you):

Yes! I live to tell the tale (tired and sweaty from over 3K of lights around me):




5:45PM- Actors start showing up:



Jeff (sitting behind the window) comes at a moment's notice to help me. Actors are hanging out outside and inside, reading their lines and preparing.




"the doctor will see you now"



A short interview before getting started:



Followed by a group snap shot:



Actors then go through the scene:



Meanwhile, Jim is filming their performance for later review/evaluation.



One last batch and we are done:

 

Hey Faith
Glad we didn't have to wait till March!
Thanks for the updates.
Man, that camera is a mean looking piece of machinery!

 

UPDATES

Taking a short break to post an update about Steven, who had a serious car crash (roll) a few weeks ago and ended up in critical condition at the hospital, in the coma. I was touched by the news, especially because Steven story had so many similarities with the script of Deuce of Spades. In our case, the actors get up at the end of the scene, wash the fake blood, and go get a beer at the local pub to take the edge of the day off. Steven is not so lucky. Cause this is real. So, I have been keeping in touch with those who are close to him and can give me some news, hoping he will pull through and I have been thinking a lot about him, even though I have never met him.

Thanks to all of you who prayed for him, he is now out of ICU and in his own room and also out of the coma. He is being kept under to help the healing process. I heard he did wake up a few times but was unable to speak.

I thought you guys would like to know how he is doing. So he is hanging in there and it appears he will make a recovery from his ordeal, but it is to be a long process. He will need our support so please keep him in your prayers. I will post updates on his condition every now and then, if it's OK with Ryan. I think it is important rodders support each other when one of ours is in trouble. So thank you for sending good thoughts his way... It does make a difference.

 

UPDATES

I'm in a rush so I'll keep it brief. This week-end I reviewed all the audition tapes and selected my actors. I am preparing the call backs (round 2) to now pick a part for each of the chosen actors. It's a tough call cause so many were good...

Also I finally had a chance so do some test footage with the new camera set-up. My oh my that adapter is not for the faint of heart. You really have to know your stuff before you can use one of these. There is no marge for error. Everything is manual and the focus is very difficult to achieve, because of the very shallow depth of field which, by the way, looks AWESOME. The footage I took inside my livingroom was so film like it was scary. Truly gorgeous images.

Meanwhile I still await the return of my PC, which should now SMOKE (we put a blower in it hehe). I think when my new CPU fires up, my PC will do burn outs . I'll have to fasten myself to my office chair

PHOTOS

I thought I'd share the Shifters hotrods with you, which will be in the film, as well as one last snapshot of a few of the actors who auditioned that week:













That's it for today.

 

UPDATES

Took a friend for a quick spin yesterday evening and he came out of the roadster BLUE. . He had icicles hanging from his hair and nostrils . Yop, it is darn cold now, even here, in "sunny, warm" Southern California. Driving the roadster home for an hour late at night yesterday, I wasn't about to fall asleep at the wheel. No sir.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR !!!!!

But I'm tough. I can handle it. Me, and my 7 layers of clothes and ski bunny suit . In short I now officially look like THE MICHELIN MAN!

This is pretty much what I looked like, at the wheel of my hiboy last night:

 

Damn - how cold was it?

~Jason

 

Was not ment to be cold at all or offensive. So I have deleted it. If I have offended anyone especially Faith, I apologize. I have been following this thread since it started and can't wait for the movie to come out.

 

I just checked and record low in LA for December 11th was 33 degrees! That's still not below freezing! You guys got it good...

 

Dude, I totally don't know what you're talking about.

I was comparing notes on temperature. We had an ice storm here.

~Jason

 

Yeah it has turned cold over the last week, like a huge drop. This morning the grass was frozen at the park when I took my dogs for a game of ball. It was about 7:30AM.

But yeah, it is still warm compared to everywhere else, except people are not driving unheated topless windowless short windshield roadsters there... For the most part I am sure there are a couple of crazies that are doing it though... Never been in snow with my roadster... Can't imagine bias plys tires on snow... Heck drop a drop of water in front of them and WATCH OUT Wwwwweeeeeeeezzzzzz
it's like ice skating (but makes for a load of fun when you are still controlling it).

OK, so I lied. My roadster does have a heater. Needless to say the heat VAPORISES as soon as it comes out of the fan but heck, at least the "thought" that I have a heater makes me feel better .
Unlike many hotrods who have a huge amount of heat bleed through their firewall, mine does not. Oh wait... I ain't got no hood right now, so it's not like heat can build up... So no heat from engine to warm me up....

Unless... I was to put a saddle on the 350 and ride it that way... Maybe move the steering wheel to where the radiator is mounted...

Mmmmm.... This idea is starting to grow on me ...

 

You need some of THESE, girl:
http://www.gerbing.com/

Electric f'n heated clothes! Guys on bikes bolt on a generic automotive cigarette lighter, plug 'em in, and ride in the wintertime... crazy guys on bikes.

Maybe not so crazy - when I met my wife I rode 50 miles each direction daily between KC & St. Joseph on a TINY bike - from September to February - in -30 temperatures. I liked her. Seriously.

The ride would've been MUCH easier, had I had a set of electric clothes instead of bundling up like I did - stiff equals dead on a bike, and you don't want to be that way going around corners.




~Jason

 

I love you man!! This is pretty awesome.

Now this is what I want for christmas: A varsity jacket with the same heated set-up . Red and black. With a spade on the back.



Santa oh Santa? How about it???

Now of course I could get a varsity jacket and buy the heated jacket liner from those guys... Whicked.

 

i've suggested that on 6 different threads since i joined,not one person responded to the idea.

 

Faith,you just need a warm Canadian, to show you how to keep from freezing. LOL

 

Aww, they're just not hardcore like us.

~Jason

 

I totally misread your post that I was referring to. ( All five words of it.) I'll just go to my corner and shut up.

 

Hi Kramer,

Welcome to the HAMB and to the Deuce of Spades thread. Come out of your little corner, it's Ok, we're all friends here .

 

UPDATES

YESSSS! It's official, I am the proud new owner of a dolly system.
It's part train, part skateboard and part puzzle and it looks GREAT!

See for yourself: (no the girl sitting on dolly is not me)




Of course Jim Miller (First assistant director, historical consultant for the film, curator for the American Hotrod Foundation and hard core hotrodder himself) took one look at it and said:

"We should put an engine on it"

The funny thing is: He was serious.

The funnier thing is: I was tempted. (and still am)

So last night I came back from Burbank with my dolly, neatly packed in two carry cases. I was really tired, but I felt like a kid the morning of Christmas. So I unpacked my "present" and started putting it together, didn't have a manual but it was easy to figure out. Plus my cattle dog helped me (they are real smart). My meager hotrodding skills came handy as I bolted stuff together and adjusted parts to fit the track.

I then mounted my tripod and my camera set-up to it and started shooting everything in sight inside that room . Including the dog.
She is a good model/actress and no need to powder her nose every two seconds . I did a few travelling shots, while panning (reframing) AND pulling focus all at the same time. It was insanely difficult, but fun. I can see how this is going to be very challenging but I can also see just how AWESOME the shots could come out (after 28658375945786575639485004845 takes!)

My head is spinning. I have all these ideas for shots and angles and transitions for the film... Can't wait to get started... January is the target date!

So what's next for the Deuce of Spades 'to do' list?

1- learn to use the gear properly & practice, practice, practice.
2- test and try all 6 of my lenses - see what they do and how well they do it.
3- watch my 4 hour DVD training course for the HVX camera so I know it inside out (and outside in)
4- finish to audition the DPs to pick one to work with.
5- set up round 2 of actors auditions
6- do a scene breakdown, by location for the modern day scenes
7- buy more lighting gear (I am a bit short on that end of things)
8- Take a deep breath
9- TAKE THE PLUNGE AND START FILMING.


Looks like I am going to be busy for a day or two

PHOTOS

A couple pics taken at the parade, when I drove Joseph Castanon down the parade route. Joseph is a star actor, who acted alongside Adam Sandler in the film "Click" (he was his son) and also starts in several TV series. He has been in 5 movies already and is only 10 years old . He is also a real cute little guy, real nice and friendly (and smart too!). It was a pleasure chauffeuring him around.

 

Faith, Glad to read the updates. I'll be home for XMas an New Years and be back for more taping of the show in early January, so good chance I'll be here to shoot some scenes Mid- January if you'd like. Keep it up.

Ozzie

 

keep the good work going, and Merry Christmas.

 

LOL! Nice!

~Jason

 

Ya betcha' - would be great! How are the hotrods progressing, have you had any chance to work on your roadster?

 

Merry Chrismas to you too !!

 

UPDATES

Captain's log: we have been travelling in the intergallactic belt known as Pre-production. So far we have not crossed any asteroid clusters and seem to be progressing at warpspeed 4 smoothly across this vast universe. No hostile life form has attacked us and we are making good progress. but it is a vast universe and so it is taking time to get to our destination: The planet Shoot.

I hear the planet Shoot will be more treaturous with its share of challenges and might be inhabited by hostile natives, but we also know that we do have allies on that planet that will come to help us, should things get ugly.

I have been slowly recruiting my crew members, each time we stop at a planet. Tonight I have been joined by a second in command (number 2) named John Grove and who wants to travel with us to Shoot. he is an expert in lazer, light beams and anything lights related, which should help our expedition tremendously.

--- end of captain's log ---



Ok, so all is well, I had a great week-end spent entirely experimenting with gear. Saturday day went to a filmmaker bi annual meet and met a bunch o cool, young, emerging filmmakers. It was interesting to see each of them approach me and ask: "are you the girl who is making the film about cars?" To which I would say YES and then: "that looks like a really interesting project" etc etc...

The next day I was called on the set of another indie film by one of those people Imet saturday. They needed my dolly , and even paid me money to bring it over. Cool. So I made a buck and amortized the price of one of my dolly's wheels , but it was fun to see other people do their filming, see how they went about it and what I would have done differently.

Last but not least, sunday night I setup some lighting in my studio and lit a beautiful African mask. I then filmed it with all 6 lenses I now own. It was interesting to see how each lense changed the framing, distance perception and depth of field. I especially LOVE the macro lens which allowed me to take a journey INTO the mask, exploring it's every details, it was the coolest thing ever. The depth of field was only a half inch!!! If that... It is gorgeous.

Since I do not YET have my PC back I regret I am unable to post any screen grabs for you to gaze upon ... SOON (I hope)...

Woke up this morning feeling like crap. I think I am starting to feel the fatigue of the last 6 months... I have been sleeping like 13 hours per night the last few days... I must be needing it.

Ok guys, signing off for now, hope to have photos very soon!

PHOTO

This is a beautiful shot from the photoshoot done at El Mirage dry lake in July, at Sunset.

 

Don't forget that you can still probably get some of faith's merch (great posters) for Christmas - I'm pretty sure Santa got me one after I asked her nicely

http://www.cafepress.com/deuceofspades

Faith, you need this link in your sig, don't be shy

 

Point taken - check out my new sig. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

UPDATES

My first crack at filming a "fake" test scene inside my house with my new rig AND doing all the DP work myself.

I was wondering just how far I could push myself. Apparently, pretty far . Did a scene from A to Z, including the set design, the script, the camera work, the choice of lens, but most importantly, the lighting. It was an "interior - night" type scene so lighting was challenging, especially for a first try. But to my surprise I did OK. I was able to achieve dramatic lighting, with lots of shadows, moody and actually pleasing to the eye. that surprised the heck out of me cause I was so sure i was going to crash and burn...

But no, I was A-OK. I have no idea what I am doing but I keep moving the lights until what I am filming looks good to me. I even used flags, gels, and diffusers, 2 key lights and a background light, which is not exactely a simple set-up. Maybe I could become good at this?

Filmed the scene with French-American actor Daniel Lafite and wachting it back on my 24 inch high def monitor I was like:

"Wow, where's the popcorn?" - Yep, looked just like a movie. I feel better now that I know that, should my DP one day call in sick or not show up, I can do it myself .

I will post screengrabs from that scene here as soon as I get my PC back (can you believe it is still not back??)

But meanwhile, here are some behind the scene photos: I will post the actual scene soon, when I get my PC back (hopefully THIS year!) . BTW the scene I created has NOTHING to do with my movie, it was just for practice.

In the scene KYLE (the dude) lays awake in bed, motionless, eyes wide open. He looks upset. Suddenly he says the fateful words; "How long?" and that's when we see a woman appear in the frame, she was lying in bed next to him, behind him so we coud not see her so she is suddenly revealed. Follows a short, but intense exchange between the two, as we realize that he has just found out she has been cheating on him (ouch). She is caught but tries to evade his question. But he insistantly keeps asking until she confesses she has been having an affair for 6 months. As soon as he hears that, KYLE gets up and walks out of the frame. We end with a reaction shot from SHANA (the naughty girl). that's pretty much it. One continuous take, one camera, no cuts, no editing. And surprise! It came out good. It was fun to create imaginary people and an imaginary situation and live it. Daniel and I had a blast and we laughed a lot during the filming. that's how filming a movie should always be (but from what I hear - rarely is)

PHOTOS

It may not look "pretty" at first glance, with all the "makedo" flags, and my garage flood lights and make do gel and barn door situation which was less than professional looking - cause I don't have enough lighting gear right now - cause i don't have beaucoup bucks to buy some...






However, from the camera perspective, it looked pretty DAMN GOOD (look at the image in the monitor and notice the cool lighting on the guy, etc...)




We were working in very closed quarters in my bedroom (freshly painted in purple, remember?) because I wanted to see how the purple color was going to affect my scenes. Here is a shot of the bedroom as it looks now (but we moved the bed to try to gain a feet to back the camera up a hair)




The camera was backed up all the way against the wall and I had a hard time framing, so I had to use a wider angle lens (35mm) and that did the trick. You can see the new camera with the adapter and 35mm lens attached to it and you can also see the monitor and the image, which is what the actual scene looks like (neat)




Well that's it for today folks, more soon!

 

Nifty!

FYI, according to:
http://fengshui.about.com/od/fengshuicures/qt/colorpurple.htm

"Many feng shui masters believe that color Purple on the wall (or an overwhelming amount of it in any feng shui decor applications) may trigger blood disease."

Better watch out...

LOL

~Jason

 

Ogggghhhhh... Suddenly, I don't feel so good...

 

Faith, I am ever impressed by the heart and soul you are pouring into this project. Please, keep it going. I can't wait to see the final product.