DEUCE OF SPADES hotrod movie - photos and updates

Hey, did you get the Hot Rod Hucksters cd I sent you?

 

Nice, love the color. I fully endorse your room even if it isn't 50's.

 

Thanks man, 'preciate the kind words... I can't wait to see my film (other than inside my head) too! I am so excited!

 

A man after my own heart ... Have you had a blood panel done lately? LOL... No wait.. That was for WALLS only, I think bowling bowls are safe. ... not sure about handle names though... May have to consult Abomination on that LOL...

 

UPDATES

A last trip to Byrns and Sawyers filming store...

Peter, the general manager there, takes good care of me cause he is a hotrodder himself . Although the store was tagged by some of my filming buddies as "the most expensive in town", well, they have been beating EVERYONE else's prices and giving me the BEST deals, so this is where I now shop for gear. they match or beat the internet prices ... COOL, cause I am out of funds.

Since I have very little funds left to buy the rest of the needed gear I have to be very selective as to what I do buy. Yesterday I took my camera and adpater, which now is 20 inches long (yes... Size DOES matter gentlemen, regardless of what your ol' lady may have said ) and bought a hard case to protect my investment. Ironically the hard case was cheaper than the soft case I bought 2 months ago.

Go figure.

Now I have a nice water proof case that holds my camera with the adapter screwed ON (no more need to break it down every 2 seconds - which is a royal pain in the a#@*) AND it also holds my 6 35 mm lenses. I labeled them and now it looks very NEATO. Yes, I will post photos soon. the other bag is now used to hold my monitor and all my sounds gear.

I also upgraded my tripod head. Sold my Bogen 503 to my friend here at work and bought a good head, a Sachtler. I bought the low end Sachtler and that was about the price of a tri-power ... Damn. This iflm is putting me in the poor house. ... Oh well... Life is short, so let's do something extraordinary before kicking the bucket, right?

While in the store, I was approached by other producers and also some of the people that actually work in the store. All were asking me questions about the weird contraption bolted in front of my HVX camera lense... So here I was, the little "new kitty on the block" explaining all these pros how this all works. And they were amazed at the images, the incredible depth of field... Everyone was droooling...

I must admit I have been meeting a lot of interesting people because of the film. I don't care much for the actors, only a few are cool, the rest are ... wel.. You know... but I like the "behind the camera" people. They are very CREATIVE, but also smart and gear geeks adn very willing to help with advice, etc...

Drove the Deuce of Spades to work this morning. It was cold but I had a smile from HERE-------- TO ----------HERE on my face. heading out to Bob's after work, will be back late at night, it is going to be one cold 1 hour drive. No problem, I'll just jump in the microwave when I get home and put it on DEFROST .

 

PHOTOS

I thought I would post a few photos of faces you are likely to see in the film. I say "likely" because it is not 100% sure.

This little guy may be playing the "little brother who always tag along" in our flashback scene #1.




he may be playing a 50's hotrodder in one scene



he is likely to be the detective at the crash scene



This is my friend John, who is a real hotrodder from the 40's. he will be playing a prominent part in the film



This Lady is an accomplished swing dancer who still does her hair 40's style. she has accepted a prominent part in the film, which I hope will pan out.



many of you know this face. he is a young hotrodder from our local scene in LA. Maybe playing a hotrodder in the film, too.



This man is likely to be the doctor in the hospital waiting room scene



This young lady may be playing the waitress in the diner scene



This young lady is an accomplished swing dancer from our local LA scene. she has accepted a prominent part in the film




We have a lot of people in this film, so I will stop here for now.

 

Yep, they're safe.

Still, ya might wanna get a full body scan... just in case.

~Jason

 

Faith, I have been enjoying your adventures. If you have that young hotrodder in your flick, you had better plug those holes in his ears. Wouldn't work well in the fifties ! Nice work!! Nice paint job.

 

iflm? adn?

Maybe typos, maybe not... You're losin' it, man.

Time for those tests? LOL

~Jason

 

I love this thread! - You are going to make a killer movie!

Best of luck!

AB - in Boston

 

Correction, I've LOST IT a long time ago ... But a full body scan sounds kinda nice... If the doctor performing it is cute ..

 

Hi AB, welcome to the Hamb and to the Deuce of Spades thread. Glad you love it, I enjoy posting on it very much...

 

No worries, that's what bondo and sandpaper is for ... We'll lhave these ears restored and ready for a paint job in no time

 

QUICKY:

Went to Bob's Big Boy last night, it was a bit slow, as expected right before Christmas, but having missed the last 3 weeks in a row I sure was happy to see all my friends. There's something to be said about pulling in and seeing faces light up, people waving at you cause they know you and are happy to see you.

These guys are like my family.

Well it was darn cold and I can proudly say that I was the only convertible there that did not have a top on. My hour long drive going home at 10PM was a bit rough, as my fingers and toes started hurting form the cold ... Despite 2 pairs of socks and 1 thick pair of gloves...

Yes it is time for these heated clothes...

Talking about the plug in heated clothes, I had this funny visual the other day, imagining the clothes electrical system going crazy and all of a sudden it gets hotter and hotter and you start smoking... that'd be funny as hell.

 

Wasn't there a MASH episode about Winchester's heated socks?

I had a 9v battery in my pocket once, my keys crossed the ends for a bit. It kept getting hotter till I was almost burned. Brush a 9v against steel wool and the steel burns.

 

I haven't seen it mentioned in this thread,...when is the 'Saugus seen' scheduled for??

 

Short answer: Sometimes between MAY and JUNE 2008.

Longer answer: we do not have shoot dates all finalzied yet, but i do know this: I am starting with the modern day scenes from Jan until I feel like I got my gear down real good, and worked out any glitches, booboos etc... Which I hope woud be done by March. THEN we film the flashbacks (33 scenes). that may take a while, but once dfone with flashbacks, we go back to flming the remainder of modern day scenes.

There are good reasons why I am going about it this way, but don't ask what they are, otherwise you are going to get a REALLY LONG answer

 

UPDATES

Pinch me, I must be dreaming: I GOT MY COMPUTER BACK.

But it had to be wiped clean so I got it back clean slate, with NOTHING on it but files. When I sat down and realized all the hoops I was going to have to jump through to get back to being an operational recording studio and editing studio, I was overwhelmed.

Guys, it is enough to make a grown man want to curl up in a foetus position and cry "I want my mommy"...

I am frustrated to no end, but trying to take a DEEP BREATH and figure out all the plug ins, software, drivers, I need to find, download and reinstall (and let us not forget RECONFIGURE PROPERLY) in order to be able to continue where I left at 3 weeks ago....

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH...

This is day TWO of the ordeal and I am making progress. A minute ago I was able for the first time in 3 weeks, to open up a project and view the video clips and see the edits.

The good news is: MY NEW COMPUTER SMOKES!!! It is SOOO FAST, its got a blower on it, I'm sure of that! I am now viewing all my footage in real time in high def on my 24" monitor and the computer is able to show it to me without hanging or slowing down. So maybe all this agony was not in vain after all .

Saturday I prepared all morning for a shoot. I ran around trying to solve my current PC limitations to be able to empty my camera memory P2 card and dowload the footage that was in it to my PC. So I can have memory space to go out and do my shoot that afternoon. You guys have no idea what I went through to get this to happen, had to drive out to my PC expert twice to get parts I had missing, cause some of my old stuff is now no longer compatible with the new motherboard. ... Little did I know the guy I was going to film that day was going to flake out on me. ... I had called the day before to confirm the shoot and asked him to confirm on his end by calling me. Never heard from him. Shoot was at 3PM, I needed to set up lights starting 2PM, by 2PM I came to the realization that that person had not called me back. So at 3PM I called my crew and told them to do their thing, I was not going to need them that day afterall. I wasn't about to send people to drive out to a location when the person I am fiming is missing in action.

So that was that.

Yesterday went out to the Balboa park and did some test footage. "Run and Gun" has become "crowl and gun" because everything is so difficult to dial in (focus, lenses, etc..) plus my gear is now HEAVY and BULKY... But boy you should see the images coming out of it!

I am going to get a good workout logging this tripod and camera around... FOR SURE!

Well, the DOS and I are off to a Christmas get together now, so I will bid you all farewell until Wednesday. The weather is awesome today! I can't wait to drive the deuce.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL - enjoy your loved ones and may you get a lot of hotrod related presents ...

God bless,

 

UPDATES AND PHOTOS

Now that my editing bay is back up, I am going to finally be able to play with some footage again. Currently doing a lot of test shoots, to get familiarized with my set-up. Yesterday I filmed a family get together, and found myself trying to film some of it "run and gun"... With a camera that is now close to 20 lbs, is entirely manual and has a super shallow depth of field, i found myself really up for a challenge. But surprisingly, I was able to get some handheld footage, while focusing and rack focussing myself. So I guess it is doable, but boy is it a workout! I am going to keep practicing.

Meanwhile here are a few low res screen grabs from another test shoot done at sunset at the lake. We lost light but I kept shooting, and footage came out OK, dark, but not too noisy.

Special thanks to French / American model Daniel Lafitte for graciously lending his good looks to my test shoot.

I aimed for moody in the way I filmed (slow mo) and the light. I may be adding this footage to append the previous "Kyle and Shanna" scene we filmed a few days earlier... Maybe I will end up making a short out of all this, it's easy enough to whip up and could be fun and good practice.

Here I imagine that Kyle is reflecting on the lie he has been living and what he is to do now that he knows the truth (aka: lover Shanna has been unfaithful and deceitful to him). This footage could be right before the confrontation, or right after...

Kyle walks around some and then sits on a bench, alone, by the lake and does some thinking.















Finally, the sun sets.

 

Hey, you're preachin' to the choir, sister! LOL!!

Hell, even a nurse-practictioner would be okay, but I'm not sure I'd want someone with NO medical training performing that scan... well, maybe if they 'played a doctor on TV' that would be okay. Or maybe if they looked passable in a lab coat and just wanted to 'play doctor' in general, that would be fine, too.

Beggers can't be choosers, man.

~Jason

 

Jason, you always crack me up .

 

UPDATES

Yesterday I received the last piece of the puzzle: My follow focus. What that does is helps you move the lens focus ring so you can manually focus while filming. I believe that keeping a moving actor in focus will be the most challenging part of filming. So I am going to make sure to only select lazy actors , actors that move real SLOOOOW .

Woke up at 4AM and unpacked the FF and mounted it on my camera. Also redid my initial set-up and tried to dial it a bit better. It took 3 wrenches and about one pound of " #*&^##@ !!" to make it work. But now it is DONE. The technical phase is coming to an end. Soon I will switch to high gear and START FILMING. For good this time.

PHOTOS

My new hard case, to protect my camera set-up:





Inside: My camera, still mounted on its support rails, with the adapter bolted on. Behind it you can see my Nikkon lenses, tagged. Also misc accessories, lens cleaner, speed crank, etc etc..




This is my new fluid head. It rocks! It also cost as much as a tri-power set-up. Damn.



Here is the entire set-up: Comprising of 5 items: The camera, the support rails, the adapter, the 35mm prime lens and the follow focus. It's a wonder the Sachtler head is able to perfectly balance all this. It's also a wonder I was able to do handheld run and gun style filming with this huge of a rig... Especially since I had to manully focus constantly with one hand while trying to balance the rest of the rig somehow, with my only hand left. It was awkward, but doable. If only I had THREE arms!!




Last shot for today: This makes my camera look like a very strange Da Vinci's invention

 

Let me digress for a moment and talk cars

I just called the carburator doctor and ordered 3 rebuild kits for my 1969 rochesters. I explained the rep that my carb is "burping" and spraying gas straight up in the air - no kidding.

he mentioned something about possibly being the "accelerator pump" inside the carb acting up. I would like more info on that and if it was acting up, what other sideeffects would I notice... Could the car start runnning rough above a certain RPM? Seems logical since you are then accelerating...

I can't wait to rebuild these puppies so I can gain an indepth understanding on how they function. meanwhile, if any of you could post more info on this, I didn't want to ask too many questions to the sales rep and turn into a pest . Thanks.

 

Hey, it's my job.

That, and Mac repair. Yes, they break.

Oh... and whining.

And for the record, it really pissed me off that it took so damned long to get your computer back - especially being 'in the know' as to how long what they did actually takes, etc. Were I in town I'd have gladly set it up right there, in-place in front of God and everybody, and likely have had it done, software, hardware, and updated (Windows AND software) well within 24 hours FOR F'N FREE.

I don't know why, but it's extremely difficult to take any form of payment for doing what I love - especially when it helps people. If folks insist, I just let 'em buy me a buger or a monstrous 64-Oz drink at the gas station or something. Maybe if they're hot they could just wink at me and smile.

~Jason

 

You know, a picture is worth a thousand words - especially in a manual.

Head to the library and pick THIS up:
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0895863014/105-5272436-6916414?SubscriptionId=0SXFYEVA3XTP9WVY6482

Rochester Carburetors
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: HP Trade; Rev Sub edition (January 1, 1987)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0895863014
ISBN-13: 978-0895863010
Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.9 x 0.4 inches

Let this be your best friend during your rebuild. It's only like $8 - $10 from Amazon, or it's found at auto parts stores that carry the HP brand of books (it's number HP-14). In just a few pages you'll pick up what you need to know, and a bunch you can use later, and apply to other carbs.

Also, here's a scanned-in factory rebuild manual that shows all the parts (including accelerator pump) and has a troubleshooting section.

Incidentally, the accelerator pump is like a little toilet plunger and provides an extra shot of fuel so the car doesn't stall between the tme the throttle is idling closed and snapping open. You may have a leaking/torn plunger head. Check the pics out in the manual below and it'll instantly make sense.
http://www.tocmp.com/manuals/Carbs/Rochester/2-Jet/Manual/index.html

~Jason

 

Jason, you Rock !

I am going to PAW today and will pick up manual while I'm there.

Last night I barely made it home. DOS will run OK if I barely graze the accelerator and so I putputed home all teh way from Burbank (Bobs' Big Boy)... But as soon as I would give it gas it would trip and stall. Also it backfired twice last night , it has never done that before, and it scared the shit out of everyone at the meet ...

Tomorrow I am chaning my ballast resitor and rewiring my ignition coil with better gage wires (the ones on right now are too thin)

When my rebuild kits arrive next week I am diving in. I am sure the manual will be a life safer...

 

Why thank you, ma'am.

Yeah, I love that book - it's one of my faves. It doesn't talk down to you, and gives you just enough fundamentals of why and how the carb works and why and how they don't work that when you're done, you can troubleshoot about anything carb-wise, and at the very least identify various internals and how/why they work. Of course, the parts it leaves out are easy to pick up while rebuilding them, and come as head-smackin' "AH HA!" moments of serendipity.

And it makes a great coffee table or bathroom book. Hey, I learned the fundamentals of COBOL in my bathroom one summer - don't knock it. Another summer, Darwin's "Origin of the Species" was in there, but although it was a fascinating read, he's a long-winded writer (as I find myself to be sometimes).

You know, after reading and mulling over your problems with your carbs, there is an easy fix. In your case, you may as well pull 'em and rebuild 'em for fun, but there is a simple way to fix it.

If you find the messed up carb (likely the center one), you should be able to get just enough of the linkage off to be able to take the top of the carb off, exposing the float bowl, etc. It would then be possible to drop a new accelerator pump in and put a new air horn gasket on and close it up again, attaching the linkage after that's done. There - all fixed!

Of course, the old gasket could be reused in a pinch, provided you soaked it in real hot water overnight to expand it and then dried it thoroughly...

Just a few quick thoughts. But like I said, you may as well rebuild 'em - you'll have a much greater appreciation of 'em later.

By the way, if you're running 3, you'll need to get a carb synchronizer. Edelbrock makes a great one, or you may be able to borrow one off of somebody. This will help you get the outer carbs in sync with each other - motorcycle guys (especially on foreign bikes) use 'em all the time, as they sometimes have up to one carb per cylinder. If you ever get to watch a guy sync 'em on a motorcycle just once for 5 minutes, you'll have the procedure down forever (it's real easy).

Good luck, girl!

~Jason

 

I posted this in the other thread by mistake , but... I still feel the same way about it.

"I had a big day at work..... and finally got this all read. Very impressive! Nothing better than, someone with a dream and "Going for it!!" You made my day!" Thanks Chad

 

That is probably one of the best Rochester reference guides ever written. I bought one years ago to help me tuning QuadraJets. I'm usually glad to loan a friend one of my manuals but that one does NOT leave my garage unless I'm attached to it.