So I realized that I have been so busy the past 18 months or so, that I haven’t had any real *fun* time.

Now don’t get me wrong, working on music videos and horror film projects is a blast, but sometimes I just need to
get away from the computer and unwind.

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I have been working this up the past couple of days, but between being sick and trying to get ready for Christmas, it’s been slow going.

I still need a couple of more photos to finish out the design, then I will begin working it more seriously.
Some of my regular watchers may recognize the shot of Alix I did a while back for a Lovecraft themed project I did for her.

wip

Hard to imagine it’s been 100 posts.
Preproduction on The Cthulhu Key: Legacy is moving along great.
Five of the roles have been cast, and we will hold a casting call
for the rest of the roles sometime in the middle of January.

I know I haven’t been updating as often as I should, but frankly, I have been buried in the writing and re-writing the script.
Lewaine is a great help in bouncing ideas off of, and she is providing alot of great energy in streamlining and amping up the
intensity of the story.

So for now, I will leave you with a couple of photos from the work bench.

a hand copied codex infernium and the Lovecraft tarot

some props and tools

So I am getting very excited.  I got my friend Alix to sign on to be in the Cthulhu Key movie.

Alix has been in more than a few horror movies, and was a Tromette of the Month for Troma Films.

and, since it was a very nice lazy holiday weekend around Heath Manor, I was able to get around to posting the first drafts of the movie poster!

Cthulhu Key: Legacy

As usual, my favorite time of the year is flying by.  I have been reading a lot of books on scriptwriting, and a book about using the Tarot as inspiration for writing.

Of these books, I have found that Save the Cat and Tarot for Writers synch up great as both inspiration and technique.

My current production, The Cthulhu Key, is created using a composite of the methods from those two books.
I have created my own Tarot spread, slightly modifying the Tarot for Writers spread.

Using this modified spread, I was able to completely fill out my Save the Cat scene board in an afternoon.

That’s 40 scenes outlined and laid out.

I am not going to go into theory of Tarot here, but regardless if you believe in the paranormal, the symbolism of the Tarot married to the structure from the Save the Cat beat sheet can open cascades of creativity.

Go get a Tarot deck, and find something that looks cool to you
(The Dark Grimoire Tarot (English and Spanish Edition)),
then get the book (Tarot for Writers).

Read, practice, write, repeat.

Yes, it seems Lewaine found my cool Miskatonic Antarctic Expedition shirt from Propnomicon.com.
It’s a great shirt at a really good price, though I have to admit, it looks waaay better on Lewaine than me…

is that Kharma Jones???

Oh, and we have begun pre-production on a web series about a woman
who solves problems involving…things not of this Earth.

Wonder who could be starring in that???

I am not sure what she was talking about, but Cami excited about it…

Technical note:
This was shot late in the day, in the shade of the garage. I have a telephoto lens attached to the Jag35, f/4 with the HV30 on Automatic.
You can hear the Jag35 a little in the shot, but I could have dialed down the speed and you probably wouldn’t have heard it.
There were also a couple of dust spots on the gate, so that was added to the mental checklist for next time.

I got in my the support system for the 35 mm adapter. I went with the indiSYSTEM rails set, and I think it was a
pretty good purchase.  Its a pretty sturdy system that was easy to configure.

the indisystem rails for the camera.

I also broke down and got their follow focus system.

the focus wheel.

Yeah, it’s a very simple design, but it works nice.  The gearing is tight without alot of play.
For the money, it’s a great value, I think.

ready to go.

The camera, ready to go.  I will be posting some sample footage with and without the adapter.
It’s all about where I can smartly put my $ to deliver the best product I can.

Ok, back to writing…

in video!

SO I have been working like crazy to get The Cthulhu Key: Idol Thoughts up and running.  That means every aspect of the story and how the film will look
has to be decided up front.  Now, in the video circles there is a long raging debate about how to get the “film look” onto video.

Without getting too very technical, there are alot of ways to simulate that look on video, and one of them is shooting with 35mm lens.
After doing alot of research, I went with the Jag35 Pro and after spending a little time getting to know it, I am very happy with my results.

the Jag35 Pro

I will post a link to the Jag35 footage as soon as it’s uploaded.

So I don’t think I have communicated how utterly awesome a little lady I have.  Not only does she serve as an excellent sounding board, she doesn’t mind
me and my chaos basically taking over half the bedroom.
She also built my desk, and I don’t mean she screwed together some fiberboard Ikea crap kit.
No, she made me a huge Command Center.
and she’s hot…

So here are some of my badges of nerddom.