this past weekend, as you regular followers of this blog know, I competed in the Acom Sports NYC Grappling Chamnpionships to raise funds for the ocmpletion of "Redemption." I will report the ouutcome of that in a different post, but they were also kind enough to let me screen "Redemption" at the end of the tourney.
I had screened this movie twice before, once at the Wicled Faiore and once at a private screening. In both those instances most of the people watching had been involved in the movie at some level or were friends if mine. I had taken feedback from them and made adjustments to the movie as a result.
This time, most of the people watching were folks with little familiarity with the movie at all. Further,mor, the viewing experience was sub-optimal. I was projecting it against a wall, not a screen, the room was very bright, and because this was happening in the same room as the tournament had been, people were milling about, cleaning up, folding up mats, wandering to and fro, sitting down after it started and leaving before it was over. There were many "peanut gallery" comments, and much off-the-cuff, on-the-spot, irreverent, unsolicited critique.
This was exactly what I expected and what this project needed.
I realize now that the movie needs a re-structuring and the pace needs to be picked up. A friendly, supportive audience in a dark theater will patiently sit through some of the slower scenes and try to figure out what's going on, but I need this movie to catch people early on and keep them attached to the main character and his adventures. If a scene is a little confusing, I need to make it more clear. If something as dragging, I need to cut it. And I need to start out the movie with something that will give the audience a stronger clue as to what the climax of the movie will be.
So into the shop it goes. I am targeting a September date for another screening, this time with more original music and with the film completely restructured, and probably shorty, I'm guessing about 50 minutes long.
Showing posts with label screenings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label screenings. Show all posts
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Redemption screening at NY State Grappling Championships next weekend!
Hello friends, I’ve got some big new! I’m on TV again this weekend, my movie is screening next Sautrday, and I ACTUALLY WON A GRAPPLING MATCH! ON CAMERA!
First off, the TV show “Toni On! New York” is rebroadcasting its episode of “Weird New York” in which they visit the Big Apple Comic Con and interview Yours Truly, Captain Zorikh, and display cartoons I drew of the Toni On! Team as superheroes. Tough I did not find out about this until just now, you can tune in (or set your VCR or TiVo) at 11:30 AM tomorrow morning, Sunday, July 11.
Next, that grappling movie I have been working on for the past year is having a big screening at the Acom Sports NY State Grappling Championships next Saturday, July 17th. I will be competing in this tournament, after which we will screen the movie. This will be at the Fishkill Recreation Center at 793 route 52 in Fishkill, NY. Registration begins at 8:00 AM, matches begin at 10:30 AM, and the movie will be shown when the matches are done, probably around 4:30 – 5:00 PM. For more info, go to http://www.acom-sports.net.
I’ve been editing the film down a bit, making it more concise, and also am going into the studio with the brilliant musicians Ash Gray and Jeff Webb to record a whole new soundtrack! You here's a rough demo of one of the new songs:
Finally, what makes next Saturday’s tournament especially exciting for me, is that all my hard work, training, and persistence has been paying off! In addition to being in some of the best shape of my life, I actually won a grappling match at the NY Submission Open two weeks ago! You can see parts of the match in this highlight video of the event:
So now we’ll see if I can pull out another win on the occasion of the screening of my movie!
I hope to see you there!
First off, the TV show “Toni On! New York” is rebroadcasting its episode of “Weird New York” in which they visit the Big Apple Comic Con and interview Yours Truly, Captain Zorikh, and display cartoons I drew of the Toni On! Team as superheroes. Tough I did not find out about this until just now, you can tune in (or set your VCR or TiVo) at 11:30 AM tomorrow morning, Sunday, July 11.
Next, that grappling movie I have been working on for the past year is having a big screening at the Acom Sports NY State Grappling Championships next Saturday, July 17th. I will be competing in this tournament, after which we will screen the movie. This will be at the Fishkill Recreation Center at 793 route 52 in Fishkill, NY. Registration begins at 8:00 AM, matches begin at 10:30 AM, and the movie will be shown when the matches are done, probably around 4:30 – 5:00 PM. For more info, go to http://www.acom-sports.net.
I’ve been editing the film down a bit, making it more concise, and also am going into the studio with the brilliant musicians Ash Gray and Jeff Webb to record a whole new soundtrack! You here's a rough demo of one of the new songs:
Finally, what makes next Saturday’s tournament especially exciting for me, is that all my hard work, training, and persistence has been paying off! In addition to being in some of the best shape of my life, I actually won a grappling match at the NY Submission Open two weeks ago! You can see parts of the match in this highlight video of the event:
So now we’ll see if I can pull out another win on the occasion of the screening of my movie!
I hope to see you there!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Report from the Wicked Faire
As part of the promotions for my grappling movie, "Redemption," in the interest in spreading the fun of submission grappling, and for the sheer fun of it, I hosted a "Warriors of Doom Wrestling Room" and a local quasi-fetish ren faire/fantasy/steampunk convention in New Jersey, the Wicked Faire, this past weekend.
This is something I have done before when I worked with a team of female wrestlers who did wrestling sessions with men for pay. The idea is that there are people who, for whatever reason (some reasons I don't care, some you wouldn't want to know) there are people who love to wrestle and grapple, especially with people of their preferred gender. Providing a safe, structured, and entertaining venue for this is an appreciated thing at events like these.
We held a few brief demonstrations of basic BJJ moves with the emphasis on safety and fun. We talked about the importance of tapping out before you get hurt, the progression from position to submission, and then had some exhibitions between our "warriors." Afterwards we "took on all challengers" in 10-minute matches.
The challengers were a mixed back of types, styles, and skill levels. There was one guy who was highly skilled at BJJ, and our man June found it was all he could do to avoid being tapped out. There was one guy who wore a black gi and jeans (evoking the style of Patrick Swayze in "Roadhouse") who claimed ninja training, on whom I was able to get the submission several times, and who never made me tap. There was a girl who fought June to a standstill. Our female fighter, Jasmine, got in a pretty good match against a fellow with more enthusiasm than skill. The best action of the weekend, though, was a big girl we called "Thunder Bunny" against June. Though he was able to take her back on the ground a couple of times, for the most part the match involved her denying every attempt at takedown and simply falling on top of June.
Personally, I found it useful to fight guys who were not as skilled in grappling as I for a change (in addition to the ninja, I also fought a guy about my size who had very little training). Most of the time, in tournaments and at Twin Towers Wrestling Club, I find myself up against guys stronger, faster, more skilled, more experienced, better conditioned, and more aggressive than me. This means much of my game is about defending, protecting, and denying the other guy's attempts at submitting me. This time I was able to actually try out moves that I had been training, and finding what parts of them worked and what didn't. It also helped increase my confidence in terms of "oh yeah, I can do this!" I can't wait 'till Tuesday now to go back to Twin Towers and challenge up, in preparation for the tournaments coming up over the next two weekends!
The screening of "Redemption" was not perfect. There were some delays at the tech was being set up, and with so much else going on at the event, not much of an audience came to see it. From the cast, GE West, Nicole, and Eric were there, along with June, and a few random people came in and out. Towards the end of the movie, two drunken guys wandered in and spent the rest of the movie talking loudly about MMA instead of watching the movie. There were also moments when folks would come in to check on the tech in preparation for other screenings, and be standing in the room, talking in full voice during the movie about the tech, and I had to ask them to talk outside.
In this version, the movie has some very good things in it. The opening is strong, and the use of titles and music worked. However, some of the scenes seem to be dragging, a little self-indulgent. I also need to fix yup the ending a bit, and I would like to re-shoot one or two moments. There is a match int he tournament that I would like to change the ending of, and I need more reaction shots in a couple of scenes.
Next uyp, two grappling tournaments in Long Island in two days!
This is something I have done before when I worked with a team of female wrestlers who did wrestling sessions with men for pay. The idea is that there are people who, for whatever reason (some reasons I don't care, some you wouldn't want to know) there are people who love to wrestle and grapple, especially with people of their preferred gender. Providing a safe, structured, and entertaining venue for this is an appreciated thing at events like these.
We held a few brief demonstrations of basic BJJ moves with the emphasis on safety and fun. We talked about the importance of tapping out before you get hurt, the progression from position to submission, and then had some exhibitions between our "warriors." Afterwards we "took on all challengers" in 10-minute matches.
The challengers were a mixed back of types, styles, and skill levels. There was one guy who was highly skilled at BJJ, and our man June found it was all he could do to avoid being tapped out. There was one guy who wore a black gi and jeans (evoking the style of Patrick Swayze in "Roadhouse") who claimed ninja training, on whom I was able to get the submission several times, and who never made me tap. There was a girl who fought June to a standstill. Our female fighter, Jasmine, got in a pretty good match against a fellow with more enthusiasm than skill. The best action of the weekend, though, was a big girl we called "Thunder Bunny" against June. Though he was able to take her back on the ground a couple of times, for the most part the match involved her denying every attempt at takedown and simply falling on top of June.
Personally, I found it useful to fight guys who were not as skilled in grappling as I for a change (in addition to the ninja, I also fought a guy about my size who had very little training). Most of the time, in tournaments and at Twin Towers Wrestling Club, I find myself up against guys stronger, faster, more skilled, more experienced, better conditioned, and more aggressive than me. This means much of my game is about defending, protecting, and denying the other guy's attempts at submitting me. This time I was able to actually try out moves that I had been training, and finding what parts of them worked and what didn't. It also helped increase my confidence in terms of "oh yeah, I can do this!" I can't wait 'till Tuesday now to go back to Twin Towers and challenge up, in preparation for the tournaments coming up over the next two weekends!
The screening of "Redemption" was not perfect. There were some delays at the tech was being set up, and with so much else going on at the event, not much of an audience came to see it. From the cast, GE West, Nicole, and Eric were there, along with June, and a few random people came in and out. Towards the end of the movie, two drunken guys wandered in and spent the rest of the movie talking loudly about MMA instead of watching the movie. There were also moments when folks would come in to check on the tech in preparation for other screenings, and be standing in the room, talking in full voice during the movie about the tech, and I had to ask them to talk outside.
In this version, the movie has some very good things in it. The opening is strong, and the use of titles and music worked. However, some of the scenes seem to be dragging, a little self-indulgent. I also need to fix yup the ending a bit, and I would like to re-shoot one or two moments. There is a match int he tournament that I would like to change the ending of, and I need more reaction shots in a couple of scenes.
Next uyp, two grappling tournaments in Long Island in two days!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Sneak Preview of fulll movie this weekend!
That's right, at the Wicked Faire this weekend, "Redemption" will have it's first screening in full-length form! I am very excited!
I would say more, but I have to get back to editing it together. Go to http://www.wickedfaire.com for more details of the event!
I would say more, but I have to get back to editing it together. Go to http://www.wickedfaire.com for more details of the event!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Heck of a weekend!
We shot the "Captain Zorikh plays a gig" scene at an actual gig at Otto's Shrunken Head. Then we showed the Tag-Team match at the bi-monthly Movie Madness Sunday at the same place.
The gig was a glorious trainwreck. I had wanted to form a band entirely of fighters from the movie, but some of them were not available, and some of those that were had a hard time getting to rehearsals. I needed to have a good gender ratio to match the theme of the movie, but it seems to be difficult to find rockabilly keyboardists and drummers in this town.
Finally, between people I have worked with, people I knew, people from the movie, and some last-minute networking with Frank Wood outside Otto's Shrunken Head, I wound up with a band, using the "Death Star Repairmen" name, consisting of myself on vocals, guitar, and harmonica, Eli Maniscalco on bass, Avery Man and Nicole Giunta on Saxophone, Isaac Everett and Amanda Tree on keyboards, Grace on drums, and Becca Hasselbrook on cajon. The entire band got a grand total of about 15 minutes of rehearsal as a unit before hitting the stage at Otto's.
Everything was late. We were the first band for the night. The house keyboard was locked up, the mikes were not out, the gig booker was late, the house manager was not present, and there was no one there to see us yet. Fortunately the camea people were there.
We got everything set up. The cameras were ready, audience arrived, more audience were hooked in from the other room, the band got on stage, and we blasted away, almost fully unencumbered by excessive preparation. The crowd was into it, the cameras were rolling, and we got through the two songs twice.
The camera crew consisted of Evelyn, M. Green, Matt Rosen, and Fred Smith.
After the set I hung out with Patrick Devaney of "Zombie Hunters" and several others, including Lou Nogueira, the "Guru" of the Underground Team in the movie. We had a rip-roaring time discussing making movies,and more, until we all crawled home.
After having avoided alcohol for two weeks to prep my voice for the gig, it was good to drink again.
Then on Sunday we screened the Tag Team match in two parts as well as "Zombie Hunters, Episode 6."
Though the turnout was lighter than in previous screenings, it was enthusiastic. We even drew in a few people from the bar who were not aware of the screening at first. It went very well. The Tag Team match got the desired reaction from the crowd. They were with the action all the way through. When Kristi-Lynn spun Doug on her shoulders, they cheered. When Big Vince proposed, the laughed with the hones guffaw of the recognition of the absurdity of the situation. When Captain Zorikh hit the mat, they cheered. And the applause at the end felt like genuine enthusiasm.
the screening was sponsored in part by the Big Apple Comic-Con, October 16-18 in NYC.
This all inspires me the keep on working, keep on digging, and get this movie done!
The gig was a glorious trainwreck. I had wanted to form a band entirely of fighters from the movie, but some of them were not available, and some of those that were had a hard time getting to rehearsals. I needed to have a good gender ratio to match the theme of the movie, but it seems to be difficult to find rockabilly keyboardists and drummers in this town.
Finally, between people I have worked with, people I knew, people from the movie, and some last-minute networking with Frank Wood outside Otto's Shrunken Head, I wound up with a band, using the "Death Star Repairmen" name, consisting of myself on vocals, guitar, and harmonica, Eli Maniscalco on bass, Avery Man and Nicole Giunta on Saxophone, Isaac Everett and Amanda Tree on keyboards, Grace on drums, and Becca Hasselbrook on cajon. The entire band got a grand total of about 15 minutes of rehearsal as a unit before hitting the stage at Otto's.
Everything was late. We were the first band for the night. The house keyboard was locked up, the mikes were not out, the gig booker was late, the house manager was not present, and there was no one there to see us yet. Fortunately the camea people were there.
We got everything set up. The cameras were ready, audience arrived, more audience were hooked in from the other room, the band got on stage, and we blasted away, almost fully unencumbered by excessive preparation. The crowd was into it, the cameras were rolling, and we got through the two songs twice.
The camera crew consisted of Evelyn, M. Green, Matt Rosen, and Fred Smith.
After the set I hung out with Patrick Devaney of "Zombie Hunters" and several others, including Lou Nogueira, the "Guru" of the Underground Team in the movie. We had a rip-roaring time discussing making movies,and more, until we all crawled home.
After having avoided alcohol for two weeks to prep my voice for the gig, it was good to drink again.
Then on Sunday we screened the Tag Team match in two parts as well as "Zombie Hunters, Episode 6."
Though the turnout was lighter than in previous screenings, it was enthusiastic. We even drew in a few people from the bar who were not aware of the screening at first. It went very well. The Tag Team match got the desired reaction from the crowd. They were with the action all the way through. When Kristi-Lynn spun Doug on her shoulders, they cheered. When Big Vince proposed, the laughed with the hones guffaw of the recognition of the absurdity of the situation. When Captain Zorikh hit the mat, they cheered. And the applause at the end felt like genuine enthusiasm.
the screening was sponsored in part by the Big Apple Comic-Con, October 16-18 in NYC.
This all inspires me the keep on working, keep on digging, and get this movie done!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Latest screening of "Redemption" footage a success!
Although the attendance of the "Redemption" cast was sparse, "Zombie Hunters" brought nearly 20 people to the "Movie Madness Hour" at Otto's Shrunken Head on Sunday.
This was the most satisfying film screening experience I have had so far. A bunch of people with no foreknowledge of the movie, and who may or may not have been fans of wrestling, grappling, or martial arts, gave all the right reactions at all the right points in the footage. They expressed amusement at Avery's identification with cartoon characters, laughed heartily at Vince's fear of commitment, gave a satisfying "ooh!" when Avery slammed Doug on the mat, appreciated the comedy of Kristi-Lynn's disqualification, and the resultant stop and restart of the tournament, and applauded entousiastically at the end of the tournament matches. Even the epilogue, the scene in the hallway between Vince and Kristi-Lynn, got the laughs and gasps in all the right places.
After a the decidedly mixed reactions that "Combat Twister" has been getting, this was very encouraging.
And in a completely unrelated note, there is a small bird clinging to the screen on my window.
This was the most satisfying film screening experience I have had so far. A bunch of people with no foreknowledge of the movie, and who may or may not have been fans of wrestling, grappling, or martial arts, gave all the right reactions at all the right points in the footage. They expressed amusement at Avery's identification with cartoon characters, laughed heartily at Vince's fear of commitment, gave a satisfying "ooh!" when Avery slammed Doug on the mat, appreciated the comedy of Kristi-Lynn's disqualification, and the resultant stop and restart of the tournament, and applauded entousiastically at the end of the tournament matches. Even the epilogue, the scene in the hallway between Vince and Kristi-Lynn, got the laughs and gasps in all the right places.
After a the decidedly mixed reactions that "Combat Twister" has been getting, this was very encouraging.
And in a completely unrelated note, there is a small bird clinging to the screen on my window.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Screening today at Otto's Shrunken Head
I edited down the "Getting to Know the Cast" video to a manageable 5+ minutes, added some music to Round 2, and will be screening those videos and Round 3 at "Captain Zorikh's Movie Madness" today at Otto's Shrunken Head.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Screening today!
Confession: This blog is several weeks behind. I had intended to report on all the work as it happened, but working on the projectgot in the way of reporting on it. As did my new job.
So today I will depart from the regular chronology and announce WE ARE HAVING A SCREENING TODAY!
At Otto's Shrunken Head, I will be screening an advance sneak preview trailer/short video of the movie. Be there! htt://www.ottosshrunkenhead.com, along with a cupcake tasting from Red Velvet Heaven http://www.mrfwood.com/events/2009/05/090503.html
So today I will depart from the regular chronology and announce WE ARE HAVING A SCREENING TODAY!
At Otto's Shrunken Head, I will be screening an advance sneak preview trailer/short video of the movie. Be there! htt://www.ottosshrunkenhead.com, along with a cupcake tasting from Red Velvet Heaven http://www.mrfwood.com/events/2009/05/090503.html
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