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The life and times of ToddleFly
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| Pre-48HOURS post, 2009 Edition |
[May. 8th, 2009|06:22 pm] |
I'm sitting here at Base Camp (aka The Red Room) and contemplating the next couple of days' filmmaking awesomeness and pain.
This year TBALC has the best gear we've ever had (including two brand-new HD cameras, many lights, sound gear, strobes, smoke machines, lots of grip equipment, and an outrageous array of gel colours), the best core team we've ever had (with new additions Mssrs Clark and Koorey), the best potential cast we've ever had, and a wide array of potential locations. We're shooting in High Definition for the first time. We have a company logo. We, seemingly, have it all.
The day has been pretty chilled - getting the gear sorted, and so on. Got a decent but not huge amount of sleep last night. This year I will have sleeping bag and extra clothes, towel etc at Base Camp so can stay the night more comfortably. And...yeah. Kickass.
I can't foresee what could happen. Apparently the genres this year are particularly difficult. I say "bring it on!", for obscure genres are my bread and butter. TBALC will rise to the challenge, regardless.
LET'S DO THIS DANCE! |
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| Casting Call |
[Apr. 15th, 2009|11:59 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | film, uni | ] |
| [ | where |
| | gregor | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  excited | ] |
| [ | music |
| | The Arcade Fire | ] |
I'm looking for cast members for my new short film (my 4th-year project for Fine Arts), working title MIDNIGHT CLIMAX, to be shot in June during weekends and evenings (TBC once cast is determined).
The script isn't fully written yet, hence some character descriptions being kind of vague. Also the characters may change - I'm primarily looking for interest at this point, with a view towards casting in the next week or two.
All cast must be available for the shoot period (there probably won't be more than 5 or 6 days of shooting all up, but I'll figure the details out once I have an idea of who's in it) and be able to do a convincing American accent.
The story (based on true events) concerns part of the CIA's mind-control experiments in the 1950s, specifically Operation Midnight Climax, in which prostitutes were hired to lure clients into CIA safehouses, at which point the clients would be drugged and observed from behind two-way mirrors. The film will centre around George Hunter White, the old-school narcotics cop hired to run the operation (who, by day, would hunt down drug pushers, and by night would feed drugs to strangers while chugging back martinis and taking notes). It'll be set in 1950s San Francisco (I'll manage it somehow).
CHARACTERS:
- GEORGE WHITE: 40-50yo. Tough, disgruntled old-school narcotics cop with a thirst for alcohol, kinky sex, and power. A son of a bitch, but with a sort of charming side too.
- SIDNEY GOTTLIEB: 40-50yo. Head of Project MKULTRA (the parent operation of Midnight Climax). Has a stutter and a club foot, and is religiously enthusiastic about the use of LSD in espionage.
- IKE FELDMAN: 30-40yo. White's partner/assistant, very patriotic. Poses as a drug dealer and a pimp in order to catch drug dealers and recruit prostitutes.
- ALBERTINE CALEF: 40-50yo. White's wife. Bubbly, intelligent, aware but consciously ignorant of her husband's activities. (may be cut from final draft)
- PROSTITUTE(S): 20-40yo. Drug-addicted and hired by White to do the dirty work for him. Kind of scared by the whole operation (understandably).
- CITIZEN/CLIENT: 30-40yo. upstanding citizen who loudly applauds White and Feldman for arresting the junkie, then visits White's prostitute, and gets drugged and observed.
- DRUG BUYER: 20-30yo. seedy 50s junkie type, roughed up and booked by White and Feldman trying to buy drugs.
- EXTRAS: for potential exteriors/group scenes.
If you're interested, flick me a message (or comment here). Additionally, spread the word if you know anyone who might be keen (and capable). And any questions, ask me. Rock. |
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| Notes on MKULTRA |
[Mar. 9th, 2009|12:37 am] |
So I'm now looking at making my film about Project MKULTRA, the secret CIA überproject that dealt with all things to do with the mind: mind-control, truth serums, chemical warfare, Manchurian candidates and so on. What follows are some notes to do with it and related things that I've been reading about:
- Mind control was looked into using "chemical, biological and radiological means".
- In many cases the subjects were unconsenting.
- Operation Midnight Climax: the CIA sets up fronts of brothels, hires prostitutes to lure unsuspecting citizens in and drug them, then studies their reactions. Pictures of women being whipped or tortured were on the walls.
- These, along with mental patients and prisoners, were chosen to be subjects due to their relative lack of credibility if they chose to talk.
- Those who DID volunteer tended to get the most extreme experiments, including one person who was subjected to 77 straight days of constant LSD intake.
- US Army biochemist Frank Olson threw himself out of a tenth-story window after having a major psychotic episode. He had been slipped a drugged drink (presumably by a colleague, as this kind of thing seemed to happen reasonably frequently for testing purposes before they decided to test on random civilians).
- LSD was being weaponised for use on the battlefield (to make the enemy more docile). Program director Sidney Gottlieb was ordering it in "tonnage quantities" for practical application.
- One interrogation experiment involved IV drips of barbiturates and amphetamines; the barbiturates would be fed in until the subject started to fall asleep, at which point the amphetamines would start, prompting incoherent babbling.
- "Perfect Concussion" used ultra-low frequency soundwaves to attempt to erase memory.
- Project Artichoke: explored hypnosis, and also forced addiction to and withdrawal from morphine, to produce amnesia and other vulnerable mental states...to be used as an offensive program to get people to do their bidding.
- Operation Paperclip: a program to recruit former Nazi scientists and spies (particularly experts on torture and brainwashing) for employment in this project (among others), including some who had been marked as war criminals.
- The whole thing started soon after the Nuremberg medical trials impressed upon the world the illegality of experimentation upon unknowing human subjects.
- Jonestown has been considered a possible testing site for MKULTRA.
- Sidney Gottlieb, head of the project, also hatched many schemes to assassinate Castro, including a poisoned wetsuit and an exploding conch shell.
- Gottlieb was also known to have funded research into paranormal phenomena such as remote viewing and ESP.
- He also had a club foot, but that didn't prevent him from indulging in his lifetime hobby of folk dancing.
- Dr Ewen Cameron, notorious for unconsenting ECT/drugs/lobotomy experiments, was funded and sponsored by the project, including for his "psychic driving" experiments, involving drugged and shocked patients being played tapes sixteen hours a day in an effort to dictate their "new personalities".
- Major General William Creasy, chief officer of the Army Chemical Corps, strongly advocated use of acid and other chemicals being put in water supplies as a "humane" alternative to bombs in terms of essentially nullifying a population's threat to the US.
- He was also reportedly very disappointed that the US government prohibited large-scale testing of such concepts on the American public. "It was denied on reasons that always seemed a little absurd to me."
- Ken Kesey was a subject of MKULTRA, which allegedly led directly to his promotion of LSD and his role in the birth of the hippie culture.
There are quite a few cool character/story ideas here. I don't really know where to start. I'm quite keen to centre a film around Gottlieb and/or Creasy, since they seem to be quite interesting characters potentially...and the Midnight Climax concept seems appropriately bizarre and inhumane. I don't know. Brainstorm, rarrr. |
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| Birthday Engrish |
[Feb. 28th, 2009|12:54 am] |
So my dad gave me a big-ass box set of 100 Oscar-winning films (mainly from the 30s through the 60s, so I can start filling in those embarrassing holes in my film-viewing CV). Which is awesome. But he also lives in China, so the box that contains these films has written upon it the following things:
"CENTURY OSCAR
GLORY TREASURE UP!
Handed Down Collectables Easy Vanish!
Special gift to you:
100,000 words writing with full color & Oscar best movie posters for collecting.
Have all Oscar literature at internet .
Have 100 classical movies which are seen as everlasting at the movie world.
Worthly collected movie series for century.
Elegant packing and a rare memento.
It was about one century after movie was birth, and Oscar is one of the most famous encouragements at movie world, which is with wide influence and high fame. Hence, Oscar has become the top target for the movie artists, and thousands of audiences also love the Oscar movies.
Now,100 classical movies are packed at one series, which are worth of collecting.
With it, our family culture would be improved at another high level.
This is what you seen "century Oscar".
This is a best gift to the movie artist and all of you.
This is a gift to you who are eager to enjoy your life, or are chasing the life's essence, or have tasted the sweet or tearful life.
Missing this opportunity to collecting, you may have to wait for next century."
I'm glad it's only *a* best gift. If it were *the* best gift it would cut out all the other superlatives out there.
( Titles behind this cut ) |
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| Up on the ladder |
[Jan. 22nd, 2009|12:12 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | film, theatre, uni | ] |
| [ | where |
| | gregor | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  confident | ] |
| [ | music |
| | GTA4 theme stuck in my head, AGAIN. | ] |
I've sent all my festival applications away...now it's just a matter of time before I get the inevitable rejection letters. :P
On the other hand, I've picked up another job at the Court - which is actually kinda scary-big, this time. I'm gonna be doing A/V and sound design for THE GREAT GATSBY, which is being put on for the Christchurch Arts Festival in Court One this July. This is quite a big deal...a lot of pressure but should be heaps of fun. Ross is directing too, which is cool. And I get a free pass to the CAF as well. It's lucky I'm being told about this early, so I can plan my shooting schedule for my OWN film around it.
Speaking of which... |
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| Film Festivals |
[Jan. 14th, 2009|08:34 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | film, uni | ] |
| [ | where |
| | gregor | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  okay | ] |
| [ | music |
| | The GTA4 mission-complete musical sting is stuck in my head | ] |
I'm submitting NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH to the following film festivals:
- New Zealand International Film Festival (everywhere in NZ)
- Melbourne Underground Film Festival (Melbourne, Australia)
- Fantastic Fest (Austin, Texas, USA)
- Zompire Undead Film Festival (Portland, Oregon, USA)
I don't expect to get into any of them, but this is more about the process of submitting to festivals than anything else.
Wish me luck anyway :) |
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| My Movie Lists of 2008 |
[Jan. 4th, 2009|09:05 am] |
So all film critics seem to do this around the end of the year. I'm gonna put together some lists now of film-related stuff for movies that came out in 2008 in NZ (though I'm gonna discount the films that came out at the start of the year - the ones that got all the awards around that time. No point rehashing the greatness of them. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, we salute you). Here we go!
( List-o-mania! )
There you go. Film critic duties fulfilled. |
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| Two twenty-four hour movie marathons |
[Dec. 16th, 2008|01:31 am] |
( Lineups )
Summary: I think the Wellington marathon was better paced (for one thing I stayed awake the whole way through), but Auckland (minus the shitty Mr Mike and Welly's awesome Pelham and Dungeon) had the better films. Both kicked ass though. Very strong lineups, ranging from new hotness to old shitty to classic cult films. Saw several films I'd been meaning to check out for ages, got to see some wicked directors' work on the big screen, and got Krull-fucked twice in one week (which is more than enough). I also managed to score probably 40 films from either sweet North Island DVD stores or Alternate Dave. So profitable in all forms, really. Notable moments:
- Skeeter yelling out "OH MY GOD IT'S KRULL!" after two notes of the opening title
- The moment we realised that WAS in fact a 40-year-old playing a high school student in NINJA TURF
- SHORT EYES
- The onstage martial-arts contest in Auckland
- Donning teh onesie in Auckland
- Audience reactions to ROLE MODELS in Welly, more vocal than in Auckland, and in fact drowning out some sweet gags
- The dickhead sitting behind us for the first few films in Welly, who thank the fuck Christ moved to the back of the cinema after NINJA TURF
- The missed reel change in NINJA TURF (Welly)
- Doc Brown being in the audience in Welly
- The misplaced frame, and the Old One's onscreen acknowledgement of it, in KRULL (Welly)
- A perfectly timed "How long is it?" from someone during TORTURE DUNGEON
- People chanting "SHO NUFF!" with the film in THE LAST DRAGON
- GODZILLA VS GIGAN not being played because of a lost reel, and the one reel that did play being totally faded to a pleasant blue colour
- The MOONSHINER'S WOMAN print being visibly near the end of its life
- The breakfast place being totally swamped in Auckland, causing me to miss out on the title of DYING BREED. Booo.
- The breakfast place being closed in Welly. Booo-urns.
BACON is finished, by the way. |
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| Details noticed in the new Star Trek trailer |
[Nov. 19th, 2008|01:35 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | film, star trek | ] |
| [ | where |
| | gregor | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  blah | ] |
| [ | music |
| | new Hairy Nobs (coming in the next few weeks, I promise) | ] |
1. UFP logo on the shipyard - nice.
2. Vulcan appears to have been redesigned around the ever-popular Vasquez Rocks shooting location - not only is it covered in similar rock formations, but the architecture seems to have been informed by that angled look (hence the Escher-esque cityscape and building interiors).
3. Transporter effect has been radically redesigned in 3D, with swirly little things going around the shape of the body. Cool.
4. Shuttle designs appear to be a clever midpoint between the ENTERPRISE ones, and, well, the classic Enterprise ones.
5. 60s female costumes with miniskirts = awesome.
6. There's an alien in the lineup of cadets...can't tell what species though. Nice that they thought to include that.
7. Bridge has the same layout basically as the classic bridge, but with Apple-y design.
8. JJ Abrams fucking LOVES lens flares.
9. Looks like they've redesigned the warp-drive effects too.
10. Can't tell AT ALL what the alien (presumably Romulan) ship the USS Kelvin is battling looks like.
11. A lot of angled, moving camerawork - very dynamic visual feel, should shake Trek up a bit.
12. Spock rescuing his family from Vasquez Rocks?
13. I think I'm really gonna buy Bruce Greenwood as Pike.
14. Ditto Simon Pegg as Scotty and Karl Urban as Bones.
15. Looks like Kirk gets to do some fisticuffs on an alien :)
16. Ditto Sulu with fencing.
17. Kirk fights a big alien monster.
18. The "buckle up" shot has the air of classic Kirk.
19. Is that...a GREEN SKINNED ORION WOMAN in bed with Kirk? I think it is!!
20. Eric Bana would be unrecognisable save for his trademark head-waggling.
and 21. Classic STAR TREK logo! W00t!
So yeah. Difficult to tell how the movie'll turn out. Looks like they cut the majority of the trailer from two or three major action sequences in order to present it as a huge action picture. I hope there's a goodly amount of character and thematic work to balance that...since that's what Trek was always about in the first place. I think we can safely say it'll deliver on the action and visual side of things, at the very least.
I miss Lucy. |
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