1st week of principle

Dec 7th - I made it to Denver around 2pm from China via Seattle. Had a bit of a cold I caught somewhere the day before at work but it went away by the 10th. Jason, Nina, Shaz and Dominic arrived in the morning before me and went down to check in to the hotel in Colorado Springs. Noel Bastien (script sup) made it in a couple of days before from New York; Paul Sitzman (audio) made it down from Denver as did John Murphy (gaffer). Mike Wieben came on set on the 8th since he's a local.

Dec 8th - UCCS
We froze our butts off. It was hell, but we accomplished a lot. We might have to go back for a couple of reshoots; however, the footage looks really good and for a first day it was a success I think. At one point we had what seemed like a battery problem but it turned out to be an unlocked transport knob... that was a heart attack of the first order. The crew came together and did a great job, everyone got along well despite the enormous challenges.

Dec. 9th - UCCS snowed out; rescheduled to the coffee house location
We began shooting scene 6 a day early. It went really well despite how complex the 5-way conversation is.

Dec. 10th - scene 6

Dec. 11th - scene 11
Started the day with the jib and dolly; shot some Kodak linagraph shellburst

Dec. 12th - scene 15; scene 4
We started scene 4 and 15 (the second line scene)

Dec 13th - scene 15; scene 10.1
We started scene 11, 10.1 and 15 and finished scene 4

Dec 14th - scene 15
We finished scene 10 closeups and 15 and went long in order to get people an extra day off

Dec 15 - extra break day
Dec 16 - scheduled break day

Hello week two! We have to pick up scene 10.3 this week and finish scene 11 after Christmas. Still, we're pretty close to our schedule.

Finishing Touchés

The coffee house #1 location is aaaaaalmost done. Here are the last 2 construction jobs that were finished today with the help of Steve Meyers, production designer:

The infamous TV

The infamous stage

Looking back on the progress from start to finish, this has been a great project! So many talented folks have contributed, it's amazing to think about it!

Viva Da Far Joe's!

Nimon Signs and Embroidery

James Nimon of Nimon Signs & Embroidery in Colorado Springs came by today and helped to put a finishing touch on the window and door of the coffee house #1 location and I have to say it looks FANTASTIC!

Perfecto!

If the sign doesn't make your jaw drop, the fact that he did it for FREE should. Yes folks, you heard me correctly: FREE. We've had such a spectacular turnout of support for our film it has boggled my mind. The people of Colorado Springs have been nothing short of rockstar helping us make ends meet and bringing their talents to contribute to the finishing product. The film would be diminished without their support, no doubt!

Coffee House #1; Nov. 10

Brilliance from the nozzle of a spray-can!

Here are some photos of Drake Gann at work on the mural in the front room. 

His finished art, like his talent and speed, is AMAZING!

Coffee House #1; Nov. 3

Here are a couple of shots of the interior of Coffee House #1 work in progress. It's looking hip!

Sales counter

The almighty cash register

Graffiti artist

We had a great meeting with a graffiti artist today who agreed to work with us on the set design for coffee house #1 interior. Things are really shaping up, it's amazing how hard work and persistence pays off.

Drake Gann of Westside Tattoo in Colorado Springs has many years of experience with this style of art and he's confident he can create a really cool look for our set. If you have the chance, stop by their shop in the Old Colorado City part of town.

Westside Tattoo

Drake Gann

Westside Tattoo in Colorado Springs

More artwork by Drake

A thing of beauty

Our crab dolly with jib... a thing of beauty. Can anyone say, "Production value," fast 3-times?

Da Vinci, eat your dang heart out!

Here is a video taken by a little digital camera set on the mounting platform; there is a good deal of bounce in this arm so we are going to have to install a mast about midpoint of the top arm and attach a high-tension guy-wire that extends from end to end to load the material and add rigidity to the system.

Library location!

Here are some snapshots of the library location we have been so long in negotiations to secure. The campus has been tremendously cooperative and generous.

Stacks

Study cubicles

Quad area

Front Desk

It looks GOOD!

Locations shaping up!

Here are some recent photos of the main location. We will take possession in a few days after which we will be painting murals and furnishing the place. These shots are of the "Coffee House #1" set; upstairs is the "Apartment" set and out back from the alley access is the "Coffee House #2" set.

Front room and main entrance to "Coffee House #1"

View from the back of the location

There's a fair bit of work to be done, but it's shaping up nicely. Should be ready to go come Dec. 10th!

3d Conceptual Renderings

Here are some conceptual renderings we made of Coffee House #1 interior/exterior (click images to enlarge):

Exterior

Interior from the back looking front

Interior from behind the register

Interior looking down from the TV's vantage point

Interior from the front looking back

Jib

A funny name for a great piece of equipment, a camera "jib" is something you use to make smooth up/down movements.

Yes, we have one of those in the making. No, it will be heavier than... that thing you thinking it might not be as heavy as. And yes, we made it for pennies and elbow grease.

In development

Front view with payload

Side view with payload

Locations

As of Sept 27th we have confirmation on the library location.
Hard work and perseverance actually still pays off folks!

So we have a movie shoot. See everyone in December!

ETE

And then... we got arrested.

So, what happens when 3 knuckleheads get their hands on 5 2k HMI lights on the top of a mountain after sunset?

Don't encourage them... just don't do it. Don't even look in their direction.

It would probably look something like this:

Ready... aim...

After setting them up, we jumped in the truck and drove down to town... all the while it looked like, aw, hell, the moon was suddenly some kind of giant laser-beam among the trees behind us or something?

It was bright:

Smoke on the water, lights on the mountain...

I mean, it was damned bright:

Images in mirror are brighter than they appear...

So, we got down by the post office which was about 2 miles away down in the valley and saw this:

Close encounters of the bright kind...

I couldn't stop laughing. On the way back to the house:

When we pulled into the driveway a cop was already there waiting for us. He said he was responding to a lady's concerned call to 911 regarding what looked like a UFO. After yelling at us for a while he pulled out and left us still laughing.

Just wait until we get the 10K lit up along with the bank of 2 5ks... can anyone say forest fire? Heck, it'll probably attract mountain lions or something... bears...

ed. note: being that we've received numerous complaints about this post, as well as one unconfirmed death threat, we feel it our duty to clarify that the part about the police is... creative license. Now please, frOnk, if you're reading this, please stop calling the house with your empty complaints about all things baseball and elaborations of the big fish type.