Test Film

I may have gotten a teensy bit carried away with this…

So here’s a promo for the film below.  More of an excuse to play with the POV rig.

And here’s a short featuring a ton of the experimental camera rigs we’ve been talking about here on the blog, shot in Bill’s house (one of the locations we’ll be using for Coyote), with a ton of other experimental nonsense that may or may not be incorporated into the big bad daddy, Coyote.

Why do this?  All of these rigs have been labeled “experimental”  since we’ve never really used them outside of extremely rudimentary tests.  Also, it’s been… at least a few months since we’ve gotten together to work on anything besides the planning of Coyote, so it’s good to work off the rust before the big show.  Making a little short can alleviate both of those concerns somewhat.

Here’s what we’ve tested now thoroughly:

• Car Rig
• Pocket Dolly
• Slider
• Large Waterproof Enclosure
• Flycam Nano
• POV Cam
• Tons of Lenses

What have we learned?  Oh so much!  Basically all of those experimental rigs are no longer experimental.  Ready to go.  Unfortunately, our range of acceptable lenses has dwindled due to some ugly bokeh on the cheaper CCTV wide angle lenses, but believe me, it’s SO much better to learn this before we started shooting the feature.

…and there’s still more to test.  I’ve got that pesky boot cam to alter, my new field recorder (for audio), as well as fix the dolly track (piece of wood…er shit), but for the most part we’re ready to jump into FX tests, which is incredibly exciting!  I’m told Friday evening, I’ll get my first look at the completed Insect Man head.  Fun, fun!

In other news:

I’ve got a solid lead on a “wild dog” that’s actually local and won’t cost me double the film’s entire budget (I had someone quote me at $100k for animal handling fees, HA!).  I’ve also all but cast “Jesse.”  We’ve just got to work out the schedule.

Speaking of the schedule, we’ve gained an extra week with Bill (yay!), but have to rework the current schedule entirely (boo!).  More on that stuff next week.

I added a page for Mr. Finkbiner under the cast tab.  It’s mostly what you’d find at imdb.com, but it’s all at the click of your mouse, so that’s easier, right?  Fuck typing.  There’s a trailer on there that isn’t on imdb though.  On that note, there’s a page on IMDB for Coyote now.  Go and “like” it, or whatever you do on that page.

Good luck to you all making your own Coyote!  If you rework the schedule before me, let me know.  I’m going to beat myself over the head with it until it fixes itself.

More late nights ahead…

Camera Rig Nonsense

• Step 1: Drill a hole in an old boot
• Step 2: Screw a dowel into the toe of the boot
• Step 3: Put camera in boot
• Step 4: Smash things with boot

So I had a couple of hours to spare today, and I needed to get these camera rigs on their way.  I’ve had a raimi-esque shot in mind for a face stomp in the film for a couple of months now.  It turns out that it’s a fairly simple build, which is good since we only need it for one shot.  It actually seems more difficult to light than anything, but that’s Nick’s problem.

Also!!!  I got this neat little flycam contraption in from India.  Since Nick’s sold off his professional steadicam, I decided to try out one of these really cheap stabilizers from ebay.  It works pretty well actually.  I had a nightmare balancing the thing, until I realized the power button switching from off to on threw the whole thing off.  This thing WOULD NOT WORK if we were using cameras much bigger than the mighty little GH13.  Still, for less than $150, I’m really happy with the results.

NOW, watch a couple of seconds of me smashing my shoe with a boot and some raw flycam footage.

Meet Joe!

It’s been about two weeks since the indiegogo wrapped up, and my last post here.  There’ve been a few developments recently.

The biggest news is that Bill Finkbiner will be playing Joe.

We all feel the physical contrast between Bill and Bill…wait… “Bill” and “Joe” is exactly what we were looking for.  Don’t let the collared shirt and pleasant disposition deceive you.  The guy is a six-foot-tall bodybuilder, and plays a pretty convincing racist.

I’ll get a cast page for Bill with a bio and some sample videos in the next week.

Some new camera rigs are almost ready.  I desperately need to meet up with Nick for some test shots.  I think we might meet up and make a little short with elements from Coyote if all goes as planned.

Still no progress on finding a dog.  There’ve been several leads that have lead nowhere and wasted some time, but I remain optimistic that we won’t have to use an untrained animal (I guess it wouldn’t be SO terrible).

Art direction is coming along nicely.  We’ve gotten quite a few generous donations, and accumulated enough “junk” to accommodate about 1/8 of my basement.  Most of Bill’s wardrobe is complete.  We’re still looking for more taxidermy, tents, and lots and lots of paper.

Storyboards are progressing SLOWLY.  I’m about 30 pages into it.  That’s over 1/3!

Back to work!

Indiegogo Culmination, pt. 2

Just when I thought I was going to let the final few days dwindle, there’s been another surge in views, donations, etc. for Coyote.  Nick Brian Walters, our resident renaissance man and the best Director of Photography living in the Midwest, produced us this fine pitch.

I was a total fucking idiot, and forgot to pick up Mr. Walters for our launch party.  He’s been so integral to the development of this project, and not so bad at promoting it either.

I owe you a bag of that pipe tobaccy next time I see you, Nick!  You kick ass.

If this was entertaining for you, be sure to subscribe to Nick’s vlogs where he talks about all kinds of stuff from the comfort of his blanket fort.

Indiegogo Culmination

Thanks to Generous donations from Arlin Juenger, our new associate producer, and the wonderful people that came out to the very excellent Crack Fox venue, we’re so, so close to hitting our goal.  We’re a measly 30 dollars short.  Who can put us over the top?

Brian Staack dressed up like Bill from Coyote for our party.  Doesn’t he look great!?

So I think there are a few thank you’s in order from some of the recent press we’ve gotten.

FilmBizarro‘s Preston Carnell conducted a wonderful interview with Bill and me.

Blogger Banacek put together an excellent article with the help of Oberst on Beasts in Human Skin.

Seth Metoyer from Morehorror put a piece together for us.

Waaaay back in November, Paul Pritchard gave us our first nod on Pulp Movies.

Everybody with a link in here really stuck their necks out endorsing an unfunded film.  What do you have with internet presence if not a reputation.

The indiegogo campaign ends in 4 days. We’ll still accept preorders of the film after Thursday, but I won’t be cramming it down your throats again until we’re done shooting the thing. Finally, I can get back to working on storyboards, location scouting, and trying like hell to find an inexpensive animal handler that’ll travel to St. Louis.  Are there animal handlers in St. Louis?

Go Blues!

The Ultimate Spoiler

I’ve been back and forth on whether or not I should post this, but since Richard really wants to produce Coyote before I can, I thought I’d lend him a helping hand.

You all now have an inside look at what we’ll be producing this summer: COYOTE Screenplay

This is the first 30 pages of Coyote.  It should give you some insight to the character and structure of the narrative.  We bound around through time, fantasy, and dream often, hopefully in a seamless fashion, but that’s for you to decide.

God help us all.  Production begins on Coyote July 1.

 

Epic Schedule

coyote schedule

Here’s the tentative Schedule I’ve been working on since before I can remember.  It’s finally finished!  You can’t even imagine the relief I feel after getting all these scenes worked in nicely over the month of July.  We only have Bill for 3 weeks instead of my anticipated 4, so the schedule became super-condensed.  We’re basically shooting for 12 hours a day, which will be absolutely brutal.  I’ve overestimated shooting times for a few of the scenes, so HOPEFULLY we’ll have some down time between day and night shoots.  Still, there’s not a lot of room for error.

…so have yourself a peek at this daunting, mammoth production schedule.  It’ll probably make very little sense to you unless you have a scene numbered script, but I’m proud of this beast and want to show it off.

We’re three days away from the final month of funding on the indiegogo campaign.  I’ll be dropping a pretty substantial sum on it in the next 4 days.  We’ll be pushing really hard in the last month, so if you haven’t contributed yet, there’s no time better than the present.  If you have, you can always chip in a couple of extra bucks.  Tell your friends, won’t you?

EFX

It’s been a while!  Sorry for the absence.  Unfortunately, I don’t have much to show for myself.  I’ve been working on the incredibly tough schedule as of late.  It’s about the most boring job you can have on a production, and it’s been really, really difficult to get everything to mesh between locations, work and school schedules, etc.  Enough about that…

I found a local special effects artist to work on the film!  This has been an overwhelming concern for me lately.  These guys don’t grow on trees and nobody wants to work with limited resources, so this is a BIG deal, especially considering the multitude of FX shots we have in the script.

His name is Jim Geiler, and this guy has some really cool ideas.  I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of talent this guy has in the upcoming months.  Definitely working in Jim’s favor is his motivation.  He’s got a good knowledge of the script and has already begun working on some concepts.

Here’s the first concept art for “The Insect Man.”

This guy will appear several times in the film.  You could call him one of Coyote‘s villains, I suppose.  Some of my favorite scenes are with this thing and its proboscis.  Very nasty.

…so go to sleep tonight thinking I’m dreaming up creatures instead of trying to schedule a film on excel.  It’s much more interesting.

We’ve got a big final month of the Indiegogo coming up.  Don’t miss out!  Claim your perks at www.indiegogo.com/coyote before it’s too late.

Donate Your Old Stuff to Carrie’s List of Art Direction Needs

Carrie decided to save us some money by putting out a classified wanted ad for some of the items she needs for the film.

For those of you outside our locality, I don’t believe the pickup applies, but if you’ve got some of these items and you’d be willing to ship them to us, I’d gladly use them in the film (pending Carrie’s approval).  If you are local to St. Louis or roundabouts, I encourage you to comment on this entry (not email), and we’ll be in touch.

——Carrie’s Message——

Hi! My name is Carrie, and I am working on the local independent film ‘COYOTE’ from director Trevor Juenger.

I am doing the art production for the film, meaning it is my responsibility to acquire the props and to dress the sets! This is where YOU come in! We are a very low-budget production, so most of the items would need to be donated. I will be happy to come and pick up any of the items on my list, even if they need hauled out of your basement Most of the items I am seeking I’m sure you would be happy to part with!

Any help with the film is genuinely appreciated, and the director will give you a special thanks on the production blog, as well!

Please e-mail me if you would like to donate any of the items on the list!
If you would like to help in other ways, feel free to e-mail me, as well!
THANKS SO MUCH FOR LOOKING!!!!

HERE’S THE LIST!
————————————————-
*Green couch-lightly to moderately worn would be great, but it can be tattered & loved, too
*Victorian style couch-any level of wear
*Couch with a hide-away bed-any level of wear
*Rabbit key chain-any kind at all, even a rabbit’s foot
*Fold out table- square or yard sale-type(the long ones) the older the better!
*Wooden chair-the older the better! Cob webs and dust are a plus!! Also, any chair that is just odd for one reason or another.
*Coffee mug-one with a humorous phrase such as “I’m up and dressed- what more do you want?” or “Number One Grandma”
*VHS camcorder- non-working, and once again, the older the better!
*Quiver
*Digital alarm clock
*Plain white fitted sheet & top sheet (Queen)
*Feather pillow-nothing is too old!
*OLD mailbox w/flag
*Flashlight
*Wooden picture frames
*Luggage/suitcase-the older the better!
*Dashboard hula girl
*Pine tree air freshener-the older the better!
*Lawn Nativity scene figures-even if you only have one or two stray ones
*Old (working) TV set
*Circular saw(working)
*Various glass jars-Mason, or baby food, or salsa or whatever!
*Rusted screwdriver
*Small bedside table
*Coffee table
*Fur Rug
*ANYTHING TAXIDERMY RELATED-animals, books on it, parts(glass eyes)
*Kitchen mat/rug
*Paintbrushes-ALL TYPES
*Plastic shovel & pail
*Tackle box
*Cork
*Fishing poles-Fly and Traditional, maybe cane
*Stringer
*Galoshes/Waders
*Fishing Vest
*Fishing bucket hat
*Lawn chairs-the older the better!!
*Tent

Another Key Prop!

SUPER special thanks to Jeremy Dietzel for “Bill’s bow” and for a bunch of broadhead arrows.  I remember seeing broadheads when I was really young, and thinking how incredibly brutal they are. Razor blades slice through arteries and veins while the rest of the arrow pushes its way through flesh.  Scary.

I hope Bill is stronger than I am.  The pullback on this thing is intense.  I really strained to get it. I need to start working out…

Bring on the arrow death!  Animals, humans, plastic statues – they stand no chance.  Lets shoot some stuff.