Here is our production camera:

That’s a Canon EOS 7D, modified by Präzisions-Entwicklung Denz in Germany to accept PL-mount cinema lenses*. We’re shooting the whole thing on prime (non-zoom) lenses for their characteristic sharpness and clarity that zooms can’t compete with; our lens kit consists of six Zeiss primes in the following focal lengths:

• 100mm
• 85mm
• 50mm
• 32mm
• 24mm
• 16mm

Here are a few of our other toys:

• Gitzo tripod with Sachtler DV 12 fluid head
• A big metal hostess tray (car door mount)
• Chrosziel matte box (not very good, but often necessary)
• Chrosziel studio follow-focus (also not very good, but vitally important)
• Marshall on-camera monitor
• Panasonic 7″ director’s monitor

To drive the signal to our monitors, we use an AJA mini converter box to split the HDMI signal out of the camera into two separate HD-SDI signals carried over more reliable BNC cable. This system, sad to say, is a real headache that makes me wish wireless monitoring was more affordable.

Here’s another photo, this time of our camera looking decidedly dumpy with an improvised rain cover and hard matte to cut lens flare:

I’d describe this shoot as a marathon sprint. 15 days to shoot a feature film is not many, particularly with such a meticulous, technically-demanding director running the show. So far so good, though, and tomorrow we leap headfirst into another production week, all hoping for the best.

Stay tuned in a few days’ time for an explanation of the good, clean, dangerous fun going on in this picture:

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*This modification is unique in that the lens mount costs several times more than the camera it is attached to.

It’s a little intimidating being in charge of the camera department (read: being the camera department) for a real feature with a sizable crew and truckloads of equipment rentals and all that jazz, particularly given that I haven’t AC’d anything in several months, but I’ve been getting my mojo back; labeling cases, buying a 100′ tape measure (finally), and getting down and dirty learning the film community’s own convoluted phonetic alphabet used for slating takes (similar to but not the same as the NATO phonetic alphabet, it begins with ‘apple’ instead of ‘alfa’ and ends with ‘zebra’ instead of ‘zulu’).

I’ll be reporting directly to cinematographer Matt Kane, who you might remember as the übermensch who shot Discouraging Words, and I’ll get a chance to hang with a few legends of the Minneapolis film world, so I’m pretty excited even though I have to wake up around 3:30 tomorrow for the long drive out to the location in time for the 5:30 crew call.

So expect to hear more about all this. In a day or two, if I can summon the energy, I may give you all a peek inside those cases. For now, let’s suffice it to say that we’re shooting digital and I’ve got lots of toys to play with.

Back in 2009 The Yes Men made a documentary called The Yes Men Fix the World. They are now being sued by the United States Chamber of Commerce—an anti-environmental, anti-regulatory, anti-government, anti-people corporate lobbying concern—who are seeking to have every copy of the movie impounded and destroyed.

Here’s where you come in.

As a countermeasure, The Yes Men, in cooperation with the fascinating new film distribution outlet Vodo, have released the film for free as a BitTorrent download. Get it here. Download it, watch it, and seed that baby like there’s no tomorrow. If you’ve got some spare cash to chuck their way (I don’t), swing by their store to make a donation.

The Yes Men Fix the World is a deadly-serious film disguised as a fun-loving romp. Watch the movie if you want to see the remarkable story of how The Yes Men fooled the BBC into believing that they were representatives of Dow Chemical, and what that meant for residents of Bhopal, India. Or if you prefer, hold on until the bitter end to see how they tricked mayor Ray Nagin and the governor of Louisiana into welcoming them as representatives of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Somewhere in there is a cameo from Reggie Watts (Google him), and of course their Chamber of Commerce shenanigans.

BitTorrent is not just a way to watch leaked workprints of X-Men, it is an instrument of justice. By seeding this file as much as possible to as many peers as possible, you are helping to ensure that these surreal media crusaders will not be silenced. Won’t you please help?

[if you need a good (free) BitTorrent client, I recommend Transmission (Mac) or µTorrent (Windows)]

Anyway, the show is embedded below:

[YouTube]

Below are a few true facts about Herzog. Chuck Norris has got nothing on this guy:

• In 1982, he hauled a 340-ton steam ship over a Peruvian mountain because he didn’t like special effects.
• Klaus Kinski fired a gun at him (three times), but missed.
• He promised his cast that if they all survived production on Even Dwarfs Started Small, he would leap into a cactus. He did. And not some half-assed cactus either; one with long, sharp spines (one of which remains embedded in the cartilage of his knee).
• He told Errol Morris that if Morris ever made a film, he would eat his shoe. Morris made Gates of Heaven, and Herzog boiled and ate his shoe in front of a live audience at the UC Theater in Berkeley. (See the fantastic Les Blanc documentary short Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe, excerpted below)
• He saved Joaquin Phoenix’s life by literally pulling him from the wreckage of an overturned car, then vanished without explanation.
• He has made a film on every continent (yes, even Antarctica).
• He was shot in the stomach by a sniper with an air rifle during a TV interview in 2006 and didn’t even stop talking (“It is not a significant bullet,” said he).
• He once walked from Munich to Paris (not on the roads; in a straight line through fields and forests).
• He once stopped an international flight from leaving the airport in Lima, Peru by stepping out in front of the plane, resulting in a stand-off with police.
• He never uses storyboards (they encourage mental laziness).
• On location for Aguirre, the Wrath of God he was swarmed by fire ants and stung approximately 150 times. The day’s production was not halted.
• In 1982, he rode a 340-ton steam ship through raging rapids in the Amazon jungle because he didn’t like special effects.

Discouraging Words had its first western-states screening on Saturday as part of the Cheyenne International Film Festival. I want to thank festival organizers Alan O’Hashi and Michael Conti, as well as all the good people who came out to the program. I was particularly amused to hear from a number of people who are intimately involved in the Wyoming political scene who told me that we got the characters exactly right.

Some people at the festival have expressed interest in purchasing DVDs. Check back here in exactly two months—that’s July 24th—for more information about how to get your hands on your very own copy of the movie. If you would like to receive an email when the DVD becomes available, just leave a comment on this post and I’ll be in touch.

There will be screenings in Colorado this summer, although nothing is set in stone yet. If you would like to arrange your own private screening for friends, family, neighbors, passing strangers on the street… please send an email to screeners@discouragingwords.com.

…And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings…
…put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

Picture lock.

Anyway, here are two things that you might find interesting. First, a frame from some news graphics I’m currently rendering out:

And here is an actual scene, presented in its entirety:

If you want to see those two things in motion and in context respectively, perhaps you should buy a ticket to Program 2 (Wyoming Showcase) of the Cheyenne International Film Festival.

Peace and love to you all. I’ll see you next month.

No sense in keeping a lid on this anymore…

Exploding Goldfish Films’ latest project, the feature film Discouraging Words will make its Western states’ debut at the Cheyenne International Film Festival in Wyoming. The film will screen at the historic Atlas Theater on the morning of Saturday, May 22nd in the festival’s Wyoming Showcase program. Discouraging Words will screen together with the short film The Deer and the Antelope, written and directed by Dillon Petrillo (funny coincidence: both films take their titles from the song Home on the Range).

The Atlas Theater is located at 211 W. Lincolnway in Cheyenne. Admission to the screening is $10. Doors open at 9:00 AM; the screening is at 9:30. You can buy tickets to this and other festival events here (For Discouraging Words, you’ll want Program 2).

The Cheyenne International Film Festival runs from May 21st-23rd and features a selection of short and feature-length narrative and documentary films from around the world, including the Oscar-nominated documentary short The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner, by Cheyenne native Daniel Junge. Click here to read more about the festival and view a full schedule.

Being accepted into the Cheyenne International Film Festival is a dream come true, and I mean that sincerely. It’s by no means a prestigious festival; this is in fact its first year of existence. Still, Discouraging Words is a Wyoming movie. I fought hard to shoot as much of the film as I possibly could in Cheyenne and Laramie, and I am deeply honored to have the film selected for screening.

You can be sure that there will be more news here about screenings as the festival draws near.

The central (only?) point of the movie was that you couldn’t play the word ‘RRRR’ in Scrabble.

…until this week, when Mattel announced a new version of Scrabble that allows the use of proper nouns. Since RRRR is the title of the film, it is a proper noun and therefore a playable Scrabble word!

I’m so, so sorry.