"This Is Space Force" - Season 2, Written

Instead of following political stories and doing random videos this year, "This is Space Force" will follow a full season story arc.  The episodes will lead into each other and continue from Season One's last episode.

Don't worry, the main elements of the show will still be there.  It will still look at social and political goings on from today as seen through the eyes of a future "Space Force".  Each episode will still feature me as Commander Ramrod and the special F/X will still look like they were made for a 1970s episode of "Doctor Who".

There will be aliens, explosions and painfully slow space travel.  The episodes shouldn't run more than a few minutes, so even with seven separate episodes the entire series will be like a short film.  With me playing nearly every role, with the exception of a Martian, portrayed by a puppet most of you will find familiar (If you have watched "Biggy Wiggy")

The scripts are all written.  The biggest problem I'm having getting them done is memorizing the lines and figuring out the best times to shoot the episodes around doing laundry.  You see, the only location I need is the studio downstairs and I'm the cast and crew.  But, with all of the dialogue in the episodes being performed by me, I have to remember at least long enough sections to do entire takes.  Some planning for how to layer myself into shots with the backgrounds and, well, myself, is also needed, but I have had most of those images planned in my head since I wrote it.  It's really how to shoot over the shoulder shots and close ups when the camera stays stationary.  I have to plan where I'm standing and what backgrounds I'll be using.  It's a lot like how I had to shoot and edit "Jack vs Lanterns".  I know how to do it, but I worry about it until I get into editing.

Meanwhile, I'm writing my undersea adventure.  I have come up with a bit of a side story to add some depth and mystery to it.  It's still a bit cliché, but I find that tried and true concepts work well in shorts.  They're instantly recognizable and only the details need to be filled in.  I'm planning on trying to play most of the roles in that story as well.  Costuming and miniatures already worked out, except for one: The monster.  And I need to paint my tentacles.

Overall, I'm going into February quite a bit behind where I wanted to be production-wise, but that's no reason to slow down.  If anything, I think to crank things up.

Meanwhile, take a peak at the tentacles in action their very first time.

One Down, 19 to GO

So, while trying to cast my Christmas sequel to "Hey, Doll!" and then schedule that cast alongside when I have access to my rental cabin, I met some new local talent.  They were free to shoot, but my other cast for that movie wasn't gelling.  I had the cabin, had some willing people and had a big need to film.

I looked at my existing props list, asked for opinions of monsters on Herebemonsters on Facebook and used those elements to write a new script. Then we scheduled a single evening shoot.  My wife was pretty much the crew.  She handled the puppets and the extra sound recorders.  Leia Crowder, one of the stars, help decorate the set while we waited for her co-star, Richard Baxter to get freed from another shoot and head to set.  Everyone was present by the time it was dark and we began filming.  Until midnight.

No complaints from anyone but me. I had wanted to let people head home around 10 PM, but knew later was more likely.  That was Jan 8th.  I started editing on the 9th and finished this morning (the 10th) at 4 AM.

During filming we flipped part of the script, giving our leading lady more action and our leading man more jokes.  I did some on-set F/X in case the post production stuff I planned didn't work.  I decided to save those tricks for another movie.

And I'll be working with this cast again.  "Chick in a Box", the "Hey, Doll...!" sequel is re-cast, again and about ready to go.  We're striving for 20 video projects in 2020 and now we have 19 to go.

Check in on the Herebemonsters page, January 11, 2020 to see the premiere of "Biggy Wiggy" and join the watch party.  We're hoping the whole cast can be there. (Both of them). And the whole cast (Both of us).

If you miss it, watch it alone.  In the dark.

See you tomorrow, gang. Unless you're not reading this today.  Then, I missed you, I guess.

Plans for 2020

Sometimes it's just easier to ramble about  what's going on in a video rather than type it all out and since it will be Christmas in an hour, I'm going with the simpler option for this blog.

Happy Holidays, gang.  See  you before the year is out.

Adjust, adapt, produce

Recently I took a second shot at casting a short I've been trying to make since last year.  I got some good submissions, but did not gather the cast I needed to get this short produced.  This time, rather than wait until the perfect cast comes together, I decided to write a new script for the actors I do have.

I have short stories dating back 20 years.  I have props I've built for other films and others I bought because they were a bargain and something I might want to use in the future for "something".  I took those elements and put them together in my head, shook them up and wrote a script around what I have.

See my last blog post for more on that.

The main point is, I'm moving forward.  Independent filmmakers have two passions that often conflict.  One is to create a huge body of work.  To leave a legacy of ideas and stories.  The other is passion for specific projects.  As a writer, if I have characters I'm very connected to, which is always the goal, they will torment me and beg for life until I give it to them.  My book a few years ago was a need to get a specific story out of my head before it drove me mad.  I knew I couldn't make the film of it myself, so they characters had to settle to being given life on paper.  A couple of those characters still ask for a new adventure now and then and some day I'll give it to them, but in the meantime, I have a few screen characters who need their stories told.

At the moment, this one short I NEED to make isn't gelling.  I'm not giving up on it, but I need to set it aside and regroup.  I need to build my local network and to do that, I need to produce more work here.

So, instead of trying to gather the resources to match my current passion project, I am trying to get passionate about the project I can make.

It will have monsters.  Votes on my social media suggest small monsters are what people want.

I'll be using a creature, props and fake tools I got while working at the Halloween store.  I will be recycling some props from "Lumber vs Jack" and "Jack vs Lanterns".  I'll be filming at my cabin again and I'll be working with new talent.

Meanwhile, I've been bringing the blogs back.  "Inside HFP" is having old episodes moved to a new outlet and new episodes will be made about more recent projects (like the one I'm working on now).

My biggest problem this coming year will be finding the time to make a feature or two and figuring out which ones to make.  I have the ones I REALLY want to make, but if they don't come together I'm not going to sit around doing nothing waiting for everything to be perfect for those projects.  Instead I'll try to stay alert.  Keep my mind open and realize which idea in the back of my head or from my archives can be made.  Now.  With the resources I currently have.

"Z" was from one of my first short stories.  It came together as a project I could do at the time and in spite of people's reactions to its unusual format and outdated production values, it is one of my favorite movies of mine.  Largely because Xena and Val are in it.

Be ready to Strike

I did a blog video on this subject a few years ago and I'm reposting here and revisiting the idea because I'm going to the "opportunity" well again.

While casting for a short I really wanted to do before Christmas things went wrong.  A planned shoot.  One I wrote for, bought props for and have a location for just didn't gel in time.  But, I met some new actors and they WANT to work.  I want to work with them, so I'm going forward with a different short until I get the planned project together.

Now that I am doing Real Estate with Nancy full time, my free time is even less than it was before.  This time of year, however, things slow down at the rental cabin.  That leaves me a bit of extra time AND an empty house as a location.  Throw two available actors into the mix and a couple of monster props I came across while doing my winter storage rearrangement in my studio and I have the makings for a short flick.  So, I'm going to make one.

Meanwhile I'll get to work with new talent.  They can get a feel for my style.  We all get new stuff for our reels and we can go into the other shoot with a bit more prep time.

I feel so much better when I'm behind a camera.

So, What Have I Been Up To?

Nothing Like Kisses from a 75 pound Dog

Aside from getting my Real Estate License and doing my seasonal tour at the Halloween Store, most of my life has been at home.  We've added a new member to our pack and he takes a lot of time and effort, because, happy as he is, he has some health problems.

But, the trip to get him certainly prepared me for life with Dom.

This is not my best work, but it's the best work I could do while still paying attention to the road and the task at hand at the time.

This is my Journey to Dom.

More On Learning Production Through Making Films

Last time I talked about preparation before stepping out on  your own to make your own movies.  There are some books out there that can help you with the legal stuff.  Don't ask me about it.  I only know enough about the law to know that I'm not qualified to give advice about it.  Do everything you can to keep yourself, other people's property, your cast and crew safe.  A lot of that has to do with common sense, like not running around in public brandishing weapons without permits to shoot and closed streets, etc.

In "Death Plots" there is a scene where a group of thugs stop my character at gun point on what looks like a public street.  It was actually a private road, well out of sight of the public that I gained access to through a regular at a bar I worked at.  He essentially owned that intersection and the surrounding area.  One of the reasons you'll want your first movies to be simple and "smaller" in scope is because of a simple rule: If you can't afford to do something safely,  you can't afford to do it.
Keep that in mind when you write something.  There are things I'd love to do with a bit more realism in my movies, but often times, safety constraints force me to make concessions.  The axe throw in "Jack vs Lanterns", for example, is a special effect instead of an actual throw.  It was  a cardboard axe, which when actually thrown flew back at me.  A heavier prop could have been dangerous, so we compromised and did the best we could.  The "speeding car" segment was shot on a public road.  There are vantage points on that road specifically intended for photography.  All we did was turn the camera around.  The car was not speeding at all.  I cranked up the speed in post and added some engine noise for effect.  The trick here was to not have any scenery or camera pans that would give away the increased footage speed.  Our pyrotechnics were all courtesy of stock footage overlays.  From muzzle flashes to explosions.  Things like that require a lot of money and expertise to be done safely.  Leave it to the experts at places like Detonation Films and use After Effects or some other program to integrate the footage safely.

In some sequences you may notice a more realistic smoke or spark from the gun. These were accomplished in "Lumber vs Jack" and "Jack vs Lanterns" by using a cap gun.  None of the guns on my sets are remotely real. They don't even fire standard blanks.

Alright, enough on the safety lecture,  you get the point.  So, write  your script to include action, but as little true danger as possible.  

Recently, even though I have been making movies for years, I find myself writing things "down".  I'll come with an idea and then start to scale it down in order to simplify it for myself and the few people I get to work with.  This is because I'm working on other things and keeping films simple allows me to have a life, but still make movies.  So, when starting out, I suggest you try to do the same.

Assume you have made the leap and at least at this point have access to a camera, a sound recording device, basic lights and either the Creative Cloud or something other prosumer video editing software.  Now, all  you need is a script and a cast, locations and time.  Maybe costumes and props.  This is where keeping it simple comes in handy.  Do you live in a basement apartment?  may I suggest that this becomes your location?  Lots of things can happen to people in their homes.  Keep it simple.


Do you have a collection of vintage dolls? Dolls can be creepy.  Maybe work with that.

Do you have a friend or three who really want to act?  Write to their strengths.  In other words, if  your friends are all 30 somethings, don't write in a 65 year old Professor or Vietnam War veteran and ask your friends to play the characters.  If they're not great with memorization try to scale down the dialogue.  Is one of them a nursing student? Great! Give her a lot of lines with medical jargon you barely understand.  It will add authenticity and she'll be able to rattle the terminology off at a speed that makes your head swim.

I would keep your first few movies down to two or three characters.  One character vs an unseen threat can be even better.  For simple shorts with small casts  check out any of the "Alien Vengeance" shorts on my Amazon Landing Page.  Actually, most of my shorts keep things pretty simple.  "Shelter" was shot in one day, as were most of the shorts on that page.  (I think "Onyx Origins" was spread out over three, but that involved two remote locations and quite a bit of chroma-key and miniature work.)

Remember, the key is keeping it simple.  In "Shelter", the action all takes place in my garage.  The same garage "Alien Vengeance: First Encounter" takes place in.  In both movies the casts were small.  The running times vary from 5 minutes to 20.  "Shelter" is a bit of a longer short, but it involves historical context, character building and an emotional edge all leading up to the kind of ending that really makes it seem like "Act I" of a feature film.

Anthology T.V. shows are  great idea generators for short sci-fi and horror movie shorts.  "The Twilight Zone", "The Outer Limits", "Monsters" and "Tales from the Darkside" all give great examples of how to build a story around scares, tension and a small cast of core characters on a budget.  Don't lift stories from them, but do watch to see how they set up characters and situations and "resolve" situations in what is often a 22 minute running time.

When you make these "limited" shorts concentrate on the things you can control.  Learn how to work with your actors to get the best performances.  Take time in setting up lighting and interesting shots.  Maybe try to work in one "spectacular" effect.  (I'm always pretty happy with the monster in "AV: First Encounter" when we finally show it.)  But most of all, hone the story telling aspect of shooting.  How do shots lead into each other.  Did  you get all of the points you wanted to across successfully to an audience that wasn't privy to what  you were trying to convey?  If not, what could you have done differently?  Can you cut exposition and get the running time down? (There are  12 and 20 minute cuts of "Onyx Origins".  Both tell a full story, but one contains less humor and set-up.)

In the end, a few of these will add up to a lot of learning and later on, these will be the "easy" productions you use to keep "fit". Sort of filmmaking workouts between features.

Now, get out there and make a movie.

BONUS: A look at a super affordable, pretty serviceable audio recorder to get you started.